


Solars Flare

by Zuperbuu



Series: The Renegade Decepticon [1]
Category: Transformers AU - Fandom
Genre: Abduction, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Infanticide, M/M, Major Character Injury, Other, Pregnancy, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sexual Violence, Treason, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 04:20:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 16
Words: 105,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/657954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zuperbuu/pseuds/Zuperbuu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Prequel is in rewrite process)</p><p>New Decepticon recruit Solarflare becomes the center of attention when Starscream discovers a fairly odd but useful ability within him; the ability to spawn an army. When word gets out, Soundwave and Megatron both compete in ferocious battles amongst one another for the right to possess Solarflare for their own uses.<br/>Constantly hawking to mate Solarflare, tension is at an all time high; groups are fleeing, fights are bloody and lies are spawning at every corner. </p><p>Who will claim the prize that is Solarflare?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Music To My Ears -part 1-

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: The Prequel for this fanfic is in a re-write process and is taking a while to finish (this fanfic will also be rewritten at a later date). If you want a rough idea of what has happened, please continue reading this note.
> 
>  
> 
> Solarflare, a Hermaphrodite Cybertronian who has disguised hirself as being 'only male', has been recently recruited into the Decepticons; there shi was assigned as a mechanical engineer/medic, and became fond of the regular medical visitor, Starscream.  
> Starscream learnt of Solarflare's ability to produce offspring and sought to exploit hir ability to form an army of his own; using hir for his own pleasure and amusement, until he gradually began to form real feelings for hir. Shortly after Solarflare's ability to produce young was exposed to Megatron, Starscream made it his top priority to mate Solarflare before Megatron could, and became fiercely protective of hir.  
> That is where Soundwave comes in; a secret mission to spy on Solarflare for Megatron nets him witnessing one session of love and affection shared between his target and Starscream, making him curious to give 'love' a try for himself.
> 
> And now, the fanfic begins.

 

The chime of a glass, the ring of a bell, the beat of a pulse, the screams of the terrified or the crunching of bones. No matter the sound, noise or tingle of notes, Soundwave understood it.  
His language was music; he knew nothing more injury-healing than sound. He was, to himself and his Casseticons, the God of Music. There were, however, sounds that tickled his circuits that he couldn’t quite understand why. Sounds that, in the few times he heard them, exposed a possible weakness within him.  
Solarflares voice was one sound he couldn’t understand; as on the eyes Soundwave saw him as a thriving man of genius, but when he deactivated his optic sensors and listened, he imagined someone totally different. The strange circuitry of Solarflare meant that although he was technically male, he had the spirit of a female and along with that spirit, the manners and even certain sounds that only a Female Decepticon could ever make. It was on one fateful occasion of spying on Starscream engaging in what others call ‘playtime’ with Solarflare, that Soundwave realised something; that he didn’t fully understand sound quite like he had thought. That there were some things he had never heard before. And the short time he heard them, he felt something within him grow. A longing, for something he wasn’t quite sure of.  
Could he wish to possess Solarflare as his own, knowing all too well that Megatron had his own sights set on him? It was, truly, bitter oil in his mouth. His desires for power, being overridden by such a frivolous thing called ‘feelings’ and the neediness for companionship. If fate where not so unkind to him in the past, perhaps he would have been a totally different Decepticon. But like all the others in the ranks, he sensed a change in the air, a movement in the sounds and a battle in his Spark. Someone, somewhere and at some point will have to take down a force greater than even Devastator; Megatron, ruled out of this picture, left many Decepticons feeling uneasy. That was where Solarflare came into the picture; he soothed their pains, eased their thoughts and made them feel valuable.  
As likely as it may seem that the Decepticons where changing for the best because of Solarflare, it was in fact a stalemate, as on one side he made everyone calmer to one another...yet his presence also surfaced strong rivalries over wooing him, along with powerful battles to dominate challengers. There was, however, only two Decepticons who truly reaped the benefits of Solarflares presence, and that was the SparkMates Starscream and forced-SparkMate, Megatron. As for Soundwave, here he was, standing with the being who claims ‘he owns’ Solarflare, unable to put up some form of fight against him.  
  
_“Soundwave, take Starscream out to Siren and finish the preparations for our little show.”  
  
‘Preparations for Starscreams burial’ _ Soundwave hoped, but he knew all too well that Megatron had his uses for Starscream, including keeping Solarflare in check. The old game of ‘Cat & Mouse’ between Megatron and Starscream had only stepped up a notch with the introduction of that precious cheese. Everyone knows the old saying of ‘the cornered mouse will attack the cat’, but when cheese is involved it quickly changes to ‘the mouse who stole the cheese will be killed by the cat’.  
The sight of Solarflare, or _Flare_ as those who have certain...feelings...for him say, leave Soundwave feeling confused as to why his imagination runs wild. On various missions alongside him, he wouldn’t say a word. He’d just listen, and listen, and listen.  
As relaxed as Soundwave was under the ‘sirens call’ of Solarflare, he wanted to hear something else from the Triple-Changer. Something he’d never admit, not even to his Casseticons. He wanted to hear Flare make those noises again, only next time, under his control.  
  
  
“Soundwave and Starscream are making preparations for a new Sound System which could hypnotise an entire city who hear it’s songs” Rumble explained, tilting his head at Eclipse who was sat nearby watching the final steps of the machines construction, “Megatron named the System Siren, ‘cause it lures humanoids hypnotically towards it and extra layers of sound make them slaves to the Decepticons. Soundwave came up with the idea, isn’t it something?” Eclipse was too busy scowling at Starscream to pay much attention and only caught somewhat half of what his Circuit Buddy, Rumble, said.  
Eclipse was in no way angry with Starscream for what he had done to Megatron in the past, but was more-so sickened that he had shown weakness for another being. Even at his young age, Eclipse saw emotions for another besides hatred or loyalty as a huge flaw, and believed they should be discarded from all beings. This is possibly a belief his creator (or father as he calls him) Shockwave taught him; loyalty and logic rule all else. But being mentally challenged against the other Decepticons, Eclipse only had rage and loyalty to run on.  
Whilst Rumble remained hidden inside a dumpster (with his head poking out) Eclipse was openly sat on a fence looking into the Scrap Yard where the machine was being built, making no effort at all to hide from the two bigger Decepticons sight. “What does this machine do to Autobots?” Eclipse asked turning his gaze away from Starscream to prevent himself from bringing up this morning’s Energon “Only Soundwave knows, and he won’t tell anyone. Not even Megatron.” Rumble replied. It was indeed true that, although an undying servant to Megatron, Soundwave had to keep a few secrets from even him. Megatron, who understands why the effects of the Siren Machine should remain a secret from the Autobots, also understands why Soundwave won’t say what it will do to their enemies. As he himself put it “ _Even the Autobots have eyes and ears everywhere, it’s best to just trust than to have them find out and ruin everything._ ”  
  
It came to the attention of Megatron that Soundwave was working on more than just The Siren, but he trusted his loyal servants work and valued his need for privacy. He was however growing more aware that in a group meeting, that Soundwave shifted his gaze towards Solarflare on several occasions, and that he would offer him protection should he be about to recharge in the sunlight. At first, the leader thought nothing of it, and shrugged it off as just Soundwave taking precautions on his behalf. But recent events started to itch Megatrons wiring, and he couldn’t help but ask Soundwave what he thought of Solarflare and his behaviour.  
Soundwave, being known as the rather stoic Decepticon, just said he was a valuable asset to the Decepticons, and that he was just making sure he didn’t bring himself under any unnecessary dangers.  
Rumble and Eclipse where also growing curious as to why Soundwave was growing more concerned for Solarflares safety, when in the past he just shrugged him off and was happy to attempt blackmail. Soundwave refusing to show Megatron what he had filmed, along with _erasing_ the footage before Megatron could force it out of him, further raised their suspicions of Soundwave having closet feelings. And so, being the ‘honourable’ Decepticons that they are, they chose to spy on Soundwave for Megatron.  
Rumble was unable to get information out of Soundwave even as his closest friend (or ‘brother’ if you want to call their relationship that), so it had already been decided that openly asking him questions would lead to dead ends.  
“Megatron wants us to go check out the Laboratory for any of Soundwaves ‘personal’ projects, so either we sit here and watch him or go there and snoop around while he’s busy.” Rumble suggested, removing himself from his hiding spot and scooting into a nearby alleyway. Eclipse hopped from his seat on the fence to Rumble and transformed into his Bugatti mode, opening the door on Rumbles side “Well what are we waiting for? Get in!” Rumble, being a frisky little Decepticon, decided to slide over Eclipses bonnet and enter through the closed door instead “Burn baby, burn!” he cheered as Eclipse revved his engine and screeching his tires, zoomed onto the street and past an all too familiar police car before heading onto the freeway. The vehicle revved its engine and sounded its sirens, before pursuing Eclipse.  
“This is Prowl, come in Ironhide, I have two Decepticons driving at blazing speeds on the freeway heading north-bound. It looks to me like it’s that young punk Eclipse and his little buddy Rumble again, I’m in pursuit.” The Police car explained, a crackle from his radio sounded the in-coming response “I read ya Prowl, me and some of the guys have a nice surprise for these two punks that’ll help slow ‘em down for ya. Ironhide out.” Upon the final crackle of the communication ending, Prowl excels further, almost reaching Eclipses rear bumper.  
“Oh no you don’t!” Prowl taunted, using all in his power to keep up his pace, but is still unable to get close enough to attack Eclipse off the road, as the sheer power in his Bugatti form make normal pursuits impossible. “Oh yes I do, Auto-DORK!” Screeching his tires to pass traffic and avoid Prowl ramming his rear bumper, Eclipse increases the distance between himself and the pursuing Autobot. “Lemme help out buddy...hey Autobot! Here’s a present for ya!” Rumble mocked, leaning from the side window and knocking passing cars backwards and into Prowls path. Prowl transforms, putting on his breaks, to catch the cars and stop any injuries to the humans inside.  
“Oh yeah, eat our dust Autobots! Nobot can catch Eclipse!” Rumble taunted. Suddenly at that moment Eclipse runs over a hidden spike trap which causes his tires to burst, causing him to spin out of control across the road, slamming into the side wall and right into the feet of Wheeljack and Ironhide “AGH. MY FEET” Eclipse whined “Why’d you have to do that?! My feet...my paintjob...” Ironhide grasps the Bugatti and pins him to the floor, preventing transformation “You’re busted, little Decepti-creep!”  
  
Returning to the machine and those building it, Soundwave and Starscream remain none the wiser about what has just happened.  
As Starscream raises a cable to connect to its proper place, he stops and examines it; one might put the debate across that Starscream was only after thrills and information from Solarflare rather than anything emotional, but none can deny the fact that Starscream felt a strong need to be with him. Soundwave, who was welding with a blowtorch, stops his duties and pokes his head around the machine to see Starscream fiddling with the cable “Back to work, slag.” He ordered coldly.  
The sheer bitterness from Soundwaves voice made Starscream pout, throwing the cable at Soundwave and unplugging several more, thereby disassembling the machine “This isn’t fair! You and Megatron don’t see the great things me and Flare can achieve!” he whined as he pulled out more wires and cables.  
Not for many, many years (millions) had Starscream ‘bitched’ so much and even for someone else. The loss of Jetfire had made him bitch at his associates back in his days as a scientist, and at that point in time when he did it was simply cursing and blaming others for what was often his own mistakes. But the issue with Jetfire exposed the true machine within him; he literally tore other Cybertronians apart should they openly discuss what happened to Jetfire, especially those who blamed Starscream for it, and was often the cause of many brawls until he finally got some help in controlling his anger. This, however, was something totally different. This wasn’t a friend, a Circuit Buddy, or an associate...this was a SparkMate. And Solarflare could only ever have 3 different SparkMates in his life, so he had to choose them carefully. But for Megatron to openly become Solarflares second SparkMate, without his consent, filled Starscream with blind fury.  
Would it be that a third would surface, to blow him and Megatron out of the picture? He certainly dreaded it; for it is Solarflares decision alone who becomes his ‘lover’, no matter who was his first or who was the strongest. He would only choose one who truly understood him, and cared about him. And Starscream was all too aware of Soundwaves intentions to possibly become the third and final SparkMate, and he did not like having him as competition.  
 It was bad enough for Megatron to be his challenger; but if Soundwave was in the picture he was certain that Megatron would obtain the dominance, as his loyal servant Soundwave would never try to keep something his ‘master’ wanted.  
Soundwave, casually, approached the enraged Starscream and firmly slapped him across the face. “Stop complaining. Work. We can talk about that problem later.” Starscream pouting once again and rubbed his sore cheek, then began muttering to himself as he repaired the damage he just caused.  
 It wasn’t long before the machine was finally finished, and Soundwave made it clear to Starscream that he wasn’t going anywhere without his supervision. He didn’t enjoy playing babysitter to him, but it was Megatrons orders and he made it clear to Soundwave that they had to be followed no matter the costs.  
“I’m going to go see Flare; I’ve not seen him for nearly a week.” Starscream whined, Soundwaves response was as cold as all his other gestures...a stare, folded arms, a heavy sigh followed by the answer “ _Denied._ ” However in this case, the answer was different, which greatly surprised Starscream “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”  
Ever since Solarflares arrival to Earth everything was changing within the Decepticons, their manners, their behaviour, even their combat. Was it for the better, or the worst? Nobody, Nobot, was certain. What was clear was that Soundwave wasn’t going with Starscream to keep an eye on him; he was going to see Solarflare himself. Normally Screamer would protest, but if he just let Soundwave tag along he wouldn’t get a beating or any lectures from Megatron. So the duo set off, with Soundwave leaving Ravage and Frenzy to guard the Siren.

Solarflare wasn’t hard to find; he had been ordered to stand outside and refill Energon Cubes for a whole week, and standing still all that time with nothing to do had taken its toll on him. He had fallen asleep (gone Offline) whilst stood up, and was likely going to be excited to see someone else other than the droids who stored away his Energon Cubes.  
With Starscream being the first to touchdown, it wasn’t long after that Solarflare had awakened, and responded with a very feminine squeak of joy. The squeak made Starscream squint from the noise, whilst Soundwave happily registered it as it was intended to be “Screamer! It felt like millennia since I last saw you, I was starting to think Megs had scared you away—” a sudden kiss from Starscream halted the Triple-Changer from continuing, as both their lips met Soundwave stepped in and pulled Starscream from his prey.  
Pouting at the disturbance, he attempted to force Soundwave off the Sky Platform and into retreating, but was kept at bay by a hefty grapple in retaliation from the Head of Communications “Talk, but don’t touch.” Soundwave ordered coldly, putting himself directly between Solarflare and Starscream. The Triple-Changer placed his hands on his hips, leaned forwards at Soundwave and began poking him in the torso “You won’t mind me touching you then, will you?” he teased, causing Soundwave to grunt and step aside, allowing the two SparkMates to fondle each other a short while “Just this once, only because we where friends Solarflare.”  
A sudden jolt of attention sparked from the corner of Solarflares eye, had Soundwave just said they ‘where’ friends? Did it mean something had been done that severed that friendship? If Soundwave wasn’t such a Decepticon he found to his liking, Solarflare wouldn’t have cared. But he did.  
‘The Wave’ as he called him, was not only his partner in crime (as Intelligence and Communications Experts, they require each other’s services to get their jobs done) but he was also a confiner, a friend and was for a short while a possible SparkMate “...where friends? What made us...not friends?” Solarflare asked, pulling himself away from Starscream, who began pouting again in protest. Soundwave turned his back on the pair, and ejected Lazerbeak to send information on the Siren to Megatron “Time. You spend more with Starscream than everyone else now. Even Astrotrain is not pleased.” Solarflare lowered his head, and raised his gaze to Soundwave as if pleading for forgiveness. But looks where not the things Soundwave wanted from Solarflare...no...He wanted to hear him speak, cry, beg. Scream for Primus to release him from Soundwaves embrace, but it was not to be.  
Solarflare had one more chance to choose the right partner, and not thinking of himself for once, Soundwave was willing to let this chance slip. Of course, as Blitzwing had put it: “ _There are plenty of Sharkicons in the sea._ ” If he missed this chance, another would always surface...eventually.  
  
“Soundwave, it’s only because we’re afraid of Megs. Isn’t that right Screamer?” Starscream remained silent “Screamer?” again, no response.  
Starscream was so fixated on staring down Soundwave that he wasn’t even paying attention to Solarflare, it was like two lions before the big brawl over the female, the first one to budge even an inch would get the claws in their eyes. Nothing would sever that locking of angry eyes, except with the addition of the Alpha Male himself arriving on the scene. The Alpha Male being Megatron, and the addition being his Fusion Cannon in their faces. Unfortunately for all three of them, that was just about to happen.  
“What’s this, a staring contest? Why wasn’t I invited Soundwave?” Megatron mocked, but Soundwave was struggling to keep staring at Starscream and answer his master, and remained silent. It was a gasp from Solarflare as Megatron pulled him away from the two Decepticons that both their attentions drifted from one another to him “Now then, who’s idea was it to disturb our little Energon Stocking, hmmm? Who broke Solarflares cycle?!” A tremble in Starscreams knees gained Megatron’s cold, bloodthirsty glare first. As the prime suspect being Solarflares only other SparkMate, it was Starscream who would be top of the hit-list should something ever happen to disturb Solarflare and his duties. But what Megatron was really worried about was the last SparkMate, Starscream he could deal with easily, but with a second competitor things would prove difficult. He didn’t want to spend all his time watching Solar day-in and day-out every minute, just to ensure he wasn’t stolen from him, so what could he do to keep his little Femcon in his hands whilst deterring potential mates? Beatings. Savage, frequent beatings. More so, they where spontaneous and Megatron would target just about anyone just to keep them in their place, however a few individuals seem to always be in the firing line, not caring about anything but getting Solarflares Bios Settings.  
Once the Triple-Changer reached a certain age, and after being stimulated enough times, his nano-bots would come into action. This is the moment Megatron was waiting for, the chance to take those nano-bots and build an army of solar-powered Triple-Changers...with his power. Normal Decepticon males would not have the same nano-bots as Solarflare, but his anatomy was most curious. It was as if his creator made him female, but decided to change him to male after something came up, but never finished the process. So other than having the ‘Femcon’ Uplink Cable, manners and spirit it was obvious he had Femcon nano-bots. The fusion of male nano-bots with female ones is what builds new Cybertronians with parents rather than creators, a feature that is hardly ever used as emotion is usually required for the males and females to even interact correctly.  
  
So it became clear that Megatron wanted to create spawn from Solarflare, and then discard him once he has his army.  
  
The other Decepticons seemed to have other intentions for the Solar-powered Triple-Changer, rather than the darker motives of their leader. One of those Decepticons was Soundwave. A step backwards from the ‘Soundmaster’ jolted Megatrons attention towards him instead, and as Starscream quickly transformed into his Jet Mode and tried to take off, he was the first to be hit by the Fusion Cannon. Causing him to tumble and crash into a mound of scrap metal after his wing became damaged from the shot “Going somewhere, Starscream?” Megatron growled, Soundwave sighed with relief, until Megatron bolted his Fusion Cannon across his face in a fit of rage “Hear this, both of you! Solarflare is MINE. And when the time comes, she will remain MINE. So keep your hands off, keep your filthy thoughts out of her head, and you Starscream...keep your cable tucked away, or I’ll cut it off with a rusty axe.”  
The pair had little choice but to accept defeat here, even if there were two of them against Megatron, he was the Alpha. Two minor lions cannot take down the King, no, they’d need help. But two lions after the same female meant that a union was not likely to happen anyway. In the long run, it seems Megatron was going to possess Solarflare and make him do all his dirty work, both on the battle field and elsewhere. Usually this wouldn’t concern Soundwave, but his feelings and neediness for Solarflare meant that he wasn’t at all happy with Megatron calling him ‘expendable’ once used.  
“Understood, Mighty Megatron.” Soundwave announced, saluting. Starscream on the other hand was less enthusiastic, and flipped off Megatron once his back was turned. Once more was Solarflare ordered to stand outside and fill Energon Cubes, and Starscream was sexually frustrated at being unable to touch his own SparkMate with the predator stalking him, watching his every move.  Soundwave sensed the sparks flaring from both Jets, and had to decide either to leave now or try to sooth the annoyance of one of them. Megatron caught a hint of movement from Soundwave from the corner of his eye and turned on him instantly. To put it bluntly, Megatron beat the shit out of him all because Soundwave hinted movement towards Solarflare. Starscream would have laughed, but he knew better than to become the next target. For once Megatron was done beating Soundwave, he would seek out another Decepticon to attack, before continuing with his work elsewhere.  
  
The Autobots didn’t think much to the behaviour of their Decepticon brothers, they saw it as primitive and more like a pack of wild beasts struggling to keep order than advanced war machines of death.  
  
After several beatings, Soundwave also began to think that, and remained on the ground as Megatron scoped the area for his next victim. With Starscream playing ‘injury’ from the shot he received a moment ago, and Soundwave battered and bruised on the floor, Megatron took his leave to find his prey elsewhere.  
Soundwave saw this chance to sooth the tension in Solarflare and (to his disliking) Starscream, and recovered to approach Solarflare once Megatron had officially taken his leave, only to be tackled by Starscream who was having bad thoughts of what Soundwave was about to do “I don’t see you on the SparkMates list, Soundwave! Here’s a deal I’m willing to strike with you...LOOK BUT DON’T TOUCH.”  
Soundwave retaliated Starscreams bitching with a solid backward head butt, with his helmet colliding with the Seekers face, thereby having the weight taken off his back “I was only going to play him some music, not touch him you slag. Go clear your databanks, you’re clearly corrupted.” Starscream scowled, and rolled over to Solarflare to cling to his side as he started filling Energon Cubes, when Astrotrain bolted out of the sky and narrowly avoided crashing into the three. The impact was so fierce, the whole Sky Platform shook and threw all who where stood upright off their balance, and because Soundwave was so close to Solarflare when the platform shook he tumbled into the Triple-Changer and fell on top of him. So here he was, lying on the Decepticon he imagined he would have always wanted to for so long, in front of one of his SparkMates.  
Things would not end well, but Starscream seemed more concerned for the Energon Cubes than Solarflare being touched by his competition. Solarflare had his eyes locked on the near cold-stare of Soundwave, who remained motionless and just listened...listened to the Spark tingle and pulse in his torso, the heavy breathing from the shock, the waves of low sound emitting from his Panels...sounds that made Soundwave relax, and forget where he was.  
The impact of Astrotrain would certainly alert Megatron, but would he check on that matter first or come to see if his prize was still in one piece? Under dire circumstances, it was the latter; as Astrotrain had recovered and came stumbling over to the trio and collapsed whilst failing to deliver a message, and Megatron, who came to investigate, saw Soundwave lying over his little SparkMate.  
 “Danger. Danger.” Soundwave sounded, getting to his feet and running as if his life depended on it, with Megatron in pursuit shooting his Fusion Cannon aimlessly at him “I’ll not accept any more attempts on Solarflare from you Soundwave! Keep your distance or you’ll find yourself an OUTCAST.” Megatron roared, sending Starscream running for cover and Solarflare cowering behind the Energon Cubes.  
 Astrotrain struggled to regain his composure, and even more so to move as his injuries seemed a fair bit worse than they looked on the outside. Megatron turned on him instantly like a savage and hungry beast, giving Astrotrain the chance to explain himself or receive a beating “Explain this entry, Astrotrain!” Megatron growled “Au...Autobots...have captured...captured...E...E...” Astrotrain struggled to get the words out of his mouth, when Solarflare scurried over to offer support “...E..Eclipse...and...Rumble...the Autobots, they...they have them...” Astrotrain, weak and suffering from his injuries, collapsed before he could mention where the two Decepticons where being held.  
  
Megatron was displeased by Astrotrains weakness, and ordered Solarflare to take him to Repairs right away.  
  
Eclipse was a valuable member, and knew many secrets the Autobots could easily exploit...including the ‘little secret’ about Solarflare and his nano-bots. He wasn’t going to take any chances, and began ordering up a raid party to take the Autobots by surprise in their own base, and rescue the youths. Solarflare was left to tend to the wounded Astrotrain, and Soundwave was ordered to remain on the Sky Platform to guard the Energon Cubes. As for Starscream...he was going to be the first one to lead the charge.  
  
_“You where just waiting for this chance, Megatron...and as were I...”_


	2. Music To My Ears -part 2-

_“Do you remember?” “Remember what?” “When we use to hack computers together back on Cybertron, you always panicked at the slightest sound. Now look at you.” “What’s this have to do with us now?” “Now, you don’t care about anything but what we do together. And you know what? I like it...I like it...a lot.” “Flare...”  
  
_ Starscream couldn’t help but remember that conversation he had with Solarflare, it was the last deep talk they had together before Megatron found out about their relationship and ultimately attempted to dowse their passionate fire. And now, on the front of the attack squad at the Autobot Headquarters, he began to realise Megatron would use this chance to eliminate him. That would make Solarflare his, and Nobot would dare challenge him after proving he’d destroy anyone who so much as attempted it. There were no favourites in this game, just enemies, rivals, dead slag. If Starscream had it his way, he’d have stayed back at the base. But Megatron’s eyes where forever hawking him for weakness, looking for the right moment to blast a hole into his back and take him out for good.   
Over the course of the week, Starscream became paranoid, and began to lose down-time. And just the sound of Megatron approaching resulted in him fleeing from his Energon Cubes, leaving them to the Decepticon Leader.   
So low on rest, Energon and pride, Starscream was a fragile creature. Just one more knock could push him over the edge, and that knock was what Megatron was waiting for...the slip up and the fall he would never get up from “Ready, Starscream?” Megatron mocked, glancing over to the weak and somewhat trembling Starscream “O-of course I am! I’m ready for this!” Megatron doubted Starscreams every word, just the tremble in his voice made it clear that he was terrified...or very weak.   
_“Not a single Energon Cube for a week, and he had none the week before...he either knows what I know, or has finally learnt his place. Little does he know, however, that even if he knows his place now, he’s still going to be terminated! Hahaha!”_ Megatron raised his Fusion Cannon and aimed for the main entrance to the Autobot HQ, before firing at it signalling Starscream and his little band of Seekers to attack “Charge! Destroy the Autobots and bring back Rumble and Eclipse! Use any force necessary!”

Back at Decepticon Headquarters, Solarflare was engaging in repairs on Astrotrain, one of his oldest friends. That tumble from the sky and the impact force meant that he must have taken a heavy knock in combat, or a lot of them. Luckily for the semi-unconscious Triple-Changer that he was in good hands, possibly the best next to the Constructicons, for his greatest injuries had already been mended and wounds that could have proven fatal were easily repaired.   
Yes Astrotrain was truly lucky to be functioning, even the remaining injuries felt good compared to how he was when taken into repairs; and he had recovered so much that he was now able to see and hear Solarflare and Scrapper talking, though his vision was still a little fuzzy “Scrapper, I told you this already, he can be fully repaired right now and even have improvements done to prevent this happening again. Need I explain it to you for a second time?!” Solarflare hissed, throwing a wrench at the wall narrowly missing his target “You don’t need to lose your temper! Geez Solarflare, you where weeping like a Hatchling a second ago...maybe I should check your circuits over before you finish up here.” Scrapper suggested, folding his arms and reaching down to pick up the thrown wrench, only having to dodge a screwdriver instead “There’s nothing wrong with Astrotrain, and there’s nothing wrong with me!” the Triple-Changer growled.   
Scrapper managed to retrieve the thrown tools and keep them close by to avoid them being used as projectiles again “This is exactly what I meant. A moment ago you said something was wrong with Astrotrain and that we should correct whatever caused the fault in his thrusters, and now you say there’s nothing wrong with him! Either you’ve been stood in the sun for too long Solarflare or you’re losing your freaking mind.” Scrapper had to think on his feet, for in an instant Solarflare had attempted to blast him with his Null-Ray (which, unsurprisingly, malfunctioned and temporarily disabled Solarflare).   
Once the frantic Triple-Changer was unconscious Scrapper leant to him and carried his frame to a seat, sitting him up so he didn’t fall out, before returning to Astrotrain “Vector Sigma, Megatron has been putting too much pressure on Solarflare.” Scrapper muttered, finishing off Astrotrains left wing “Uh...S-Scrapper? What...happened?” Astrotrain asked weakly, attempting to sit upright. Scrapper stopped the Triple-Changer from sitting up too far, and reached for an Energon Cube which he handed to Astrotrain, who drank it down in pretty much one go “You were really messed up, I don’t think I’ve seen you that damaged before.” Scrapper answered, taking the empty Energon Cube from Astrotrain and setting it beside Solarflare who was still snoozing.   
‘Astro’ as Solarflare called him, took notice of his friends’ condition, and turned himself to fully face him “What happened to Solar?” Astrotrain asked “You knew Megatron left him outside by himself for a week to fill Energon Cubes, well; ever since he’s come back into contact with us he’s been a bit...different. It’s as if his personality chip is jumping around inside of him or something. One minute he’ll not have a care in Cybertron and would do pretty much anything if he felt like it, then suddenly he’d become highly defensive and throw items at us shouting.” Astrotrain rubbed his head, and took quick notice of how worn out Solarflares hands looked.   
Scrapper had begun packing away the tools when Astrotrain also noticed dents in the walls along with signs that his friend used his Null-Ray “Scrapper, who fixed me?” the Constructicon stopped what he was doing, and nodded to Solarflare “Poor Solarflare was ordered to do the repair work, I was only meant to supervise.” Astrotrain laughed at Scrappers reply, implying that Megatron would never allow another Decepticon to be alone with Solarflare “Megatron knew I wouldn’t try anything, me and Solarflare may work well fixing you guys up, but when it comes to talking...don’t get me started.” The two Decepticons laughed, until once again Astrotrain felt something didn’t sit quite right. Looking at Solarflares body, he saw him as more fragile, more damaged.   
“Wondering why I haven’t fixed him, aren’t you? Megatron said I wasn’t to do repairs on him until he returned from rescuing the brat and the punk.” Scrapper hummed, reaching for a towel which he then used to clean up most of Astrotrains new parts.   
The Triple-Changer huffed and stood off the repair table, folding his arms “Megatron is Solarflares...SparkMate...and he beats him...then leaves him to be repaired when he says so...it’s not right.” Astrotrain growled, Scrapper reached to pat his patient on the arm “Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about it...unless you’re planning on taking the risk of becoming that final SparkMate?” Astrotrain blushed instantly, and coughed to regain his composure “N-no me and Solar are friends, I didn’t plan on becoming anything more than that with him...” Scrapper chuckled “I heard Blitzwing asked him several times, and got turned down. Hahaha, is that what scares you?” Scrapper mocked, patting Astrotrain on the arm again as he escorted him from the Repair Hangar “Listen Astrotrain, until a third Transformer enters this scene, Megatron is always going to have his way with Solarflare. He’s sent Starscream on the front line hoping he’ll get killed. So, unless you have second thoughts—” before Scrapper could finish his sentence, Soundwave had appeared and began tapping his foot as if waiting for something “...what do you want, Soundwave?!” Scrapper asked in a bitter tone “I heard everything, Scrapper.” Soundwave answered, folding his arms.   
The Constructicon jolted and took a step away from the Communications Expert “I—Soundwave, I didn’t mean to sound like—I just want to fix Solarflare—” the blue Decepticon lowered his arms, clenching his fists releasing the cracking of his knuckle joints, appearing as if ready to attack. Scrapper cowered and shielded himself, as Astrotrain simply watched in interest to see what would happen. But no attack came. Not even a false charge.   
Scrapper peeked from behind his arms, wondering why Soundwave hadn’t done anything to him yet. “Scrapper, I am to monitor those who work with Solarflare.” Soundwave began, watching as the Constructicon cowered again “...if I am watching you, you may repair him now.” Soundwave finished, easing his tensed hands. The response from Soundwave brought a trace of excitement to Astrotrain “Are you serious?! He can be repaired right now?!” Soundwave twitched from irritation, and muttered the words “A-affirmative...” Astrotrain cheered, sounding his train horn which forced Scrapper to cover where his ears would be, however Soundwave didn’t even flinch.   
“Fine-FINE! Just—come in now, I can’t stand that blasted horn!” Scrapper waved Soundwave to follow him inside the Repair Station, still covering one of his ‘ears’ as he entered.  
 Soundwave stopped beside Astrotrain and looked up at him, faintly uttering the words _“Guard the base, Solar’s in good hands”_ before entering behind Scrapper. Astrotrain folded his arms and smirked, casually strolling to the Runway “Those two, together...I wonder...” he muttered, laughing shortly after realising something “Hahaha, if that happened, Megatron would be in serious trouble! There’s no way Soundwave would ever—.” he stopped laughing “...or...or would he?”   
  
Back to the Battlefield, Megatron and his forces had managed to breach Autobot security and resume with their rescue operations.   
Starscream had been badly injured leading the charge, and was left outside with his fellow Seekers flying around distracting the Autobot forces, suffering greatly from the wounds he had sustained just moments ago “Starscream, you can’t keep up this fight! Fall back and let us take the charge!” Skywarp mocked, Thundercracker lightly nudged his teammate “Starscream was ordered to lead the charge, not us! Only Megatron tells us who does what!” Thundercracker shouted, causing Starscream to lose his balance mid-flight and crash into the ground.   
The Seekers remained silent as they observed their commander transform back into robot mode and remain perfectly still, before ramming at each other “Now look what you’ve gone and done!” Skywarp growled “Me?! What about you!? I didn’t see you help him with a tow!” the two Seekers continued to argue even as they landed beside their commander and set up a protective perimeter. Skywarp lowered his weapons after having a sudden realisation “Wait a minute, why’ve we decided to protect Starscream?!” Thundercracker kept his weapons up, and fired at several Autobots that had followed them “because our commander is incapable of giving us orders, that puts me in charge of this team until he recovers, and I order you to help me protect him!” Thundercracker answered as his teammate nodded and began firing at Autobots “It’s not like you to care, Thundercracker.” The purple Seeker stated, glancing over to his blue comrade “It is part of Solarflares Bond he made with us, or me since you let Megatron put that damn machine on you; I am to protect him and his SparkMates.” Thundercracker answered, but continued “I’m just a friend of Solarflare by build, but mentally I’m a brother to him now. And as a brother, I must protect him and what he holds dearly.” Skywarp would have pointed out that it would be best for Solarflare if Starscream never got up, but he knew all too well that Thundercrackers ‘Bond’ meant that he wouldn’t care, so he chose to remain silent and keep shooting.   
Fortunately for them that Megatron and the others had managed to rescue Rumble and where able to provide backup “Megatron, you’ve returned!” Skywarp cheered as the Autobots returned to defending their base upon the arrival of Megatron and his forces “That I have Skywarp, now what happened to Starscream? Did he perish?” Megatron laughed.   
Thundercracker twitched in irritation, sure his new Bond programming meant he had to protect those Solarflare held dearly such as his SparkMates, but he knew for certain that Megatron didn’t gain Solarflares trust. He knew of what happened to him inside the Hangar; how he hacked him, right in front of Starscream who was helpless to prevent the process, and proudly claimed to be Solarflares second SparkMate. The thought alone of that hacker calling himself by that title made Thundercracker sick; Starscream had earned the trust to possess, but Megatron had invaded and used brute force.   
It was two polar-opposites, one pure Energon Cube beside an empty shell of a Cube. Inside and outside Starscream wanted Solarflare for who he was and what he could give him, but Megatron on the inside just wanted everything Solarflare could give, and would deliver to him nothing in return.   
“Starscream’s badly injured, he’s right here.” Skywarp pointed to the still unconscious commander, observing as Megatron approached and loaded his Fusion Cannon “Excellent, this will be much easier than I had expected.” The tyrant laughed, until feeling Thundercracker hovering behind him with his weapon aimed right at Megatrons back “Where’s Eclipse? I only see Rumble.” The blue Seeker questioned bitterly, not even noticing the fearful stares the other Decepticons where giving him. It was the typical look of _“you’re crazy!”_ as they observed the Seeker casually edge Megatron away from his commander “He was in a much tighter facility, we need to regroup in order to get him out.” Megatron answered mockingly before continuing “And since when did Thundercracker become Starscream? I don’t see him with the colours of a traitor.” Thundercracker lowered his weapons and turned into jet mode, hovering above Starscream and hauling him up with his grapple attachment “I’m no traitor, Megatron. I’m just doing a friend a favour.” The blue Seeker answered before flying off into the sky with his commander, bolting the cracks of thunder behind him.  
Megatron turned to the other Decepticons and laughed “Such valour; a few of you could take pointers from Thundercracker. Pointers on how to not be an idiot and do what he just did. Am I clear?!” the Leader bellowed, glaring at his troops who nodded and replied in a manner which pleased him, before waving them up into the sky “Good, now Decepticons return to base for preparations!” A swift charge into the horizon and over the oncoming terrain, the Decepticons continued on and on in their journey back to base talking to each other about what had gotten into not only Thundercracker, but also their leader Megatron.  
   
It wasn’t too long until they reached the base, with the hordes landing on the Sky Platform to refuel and get repairs. Astrotrain had entered the Energon Hangar and Storage at some point and was awaiting orders to ship some Cubes up to Cybertron, now that he was fully repaired he was more than capable of making the journey and even conserve fuel.   
On the subject of repairs; Megatron had instantly made his way to the repair station to finish off Starscream and punish Thundercracker, and also learn of Astrotrains condition, to find Starscream being repaired by Scrapper and Solarflare...with Soundwave watching nearby. “Soundwave! What is the meaning of this?!” Megatron boomed, storming into the station and narrowly missing Hook and Scavenger “Repairs on Starscream are underway, he should be fully repaired within the hour—” the Communications Expert was cut short by a heavy punch to the face by Megatron “No one is to repair Starscream! Understand?! NO ONE. He repairs himself from now on!” the tyrant yelled, storming over to the semi-conscious Starscream, Scrapper and Solarflare and pushing the Constructicon out of the way.   
Starscream trembled from his damage, and weakly looked up at Megatron as if pleading for an answer to this madness, but instead received a grasp to his throat followed by Megatron slamming his arm onto his right wing, breaking it clean off.   
The Seeker writhed in agony, crying out _“Why”_ as his attacker casually dropped the broken wing and left the station in silence. Scrapper recovered the broken wing and looked over to the doors as Megatron stood and watched, glaring at the Constructicon as if threatening him to not even attempt to repair the wing. Solarflare pouted, folded his arms and stormed over to Megatron before slapping him across the face “What’s gotten into you, Megatron?! If that where you lying there Starscream would have—” Megatron glared down at the Triple-Changer and remained silent, forcefully grabbing the jet around his abdomen without warning and squeezing him, forcing him to his knees “Starscream would have destroyed me, and you would have allowed it.” Megatron growled, increasing his force on Solarflare causing the triple-Changer to begin flailing in pain like his table-bound SparkMate, which brought a smirk to his attackers face “Any Nano-bots he’ll have given you in the past should have be destroyed under this amount of force, and even if he never did give you them, you will now know what awaits you if you decide to conceive anything but MY produce.” The tyrannous leader of the Decepticons chuckled, gritting his teeth together into a snarl as he intensified the grip forcing a moan of pain from his captive, before releasing him and turning to leave “Remember; no one repairs Starscream. He must do it himself from now on.” Megatron growled, slamming the Hangar doors behind him.   
Scrapper approaches Solarflare in an instant and kneels beside him, attempting to assist the Triple-Changer in standing up but failing to support the entire weight of the weakened jet. He scouted around him, only to find none of his fellow Constructicons would dare touch Solarflare out of fear Megatron would start to hunt them down for a beating later.   
With Starscream still writhing in pain, and being unable to repair him, Scrapper turned to Soundwave who had just stared angrily at Megatron through that whole scenario after being punched “Soundwave, assist me in getting Solarflare to a seat. If Megatron indeed did destroy something in his Fusion Cavity we cannot run the risk of him having his entire bodily circuitry collapse.” Scrapper explained.   
The highly agitated blue Decepticon tilted his head releasing a loud cracking sound before approaching Solarflare and picking him up in his arms and carrying him to a seat, looking down to the Triple-Changer every now and then only to see him trembling in pain; and the very sights of the frail creature in his arms made Soundwave want to rush out and shoot Megatron in the back, but he knew doing so would be suicide. No, he had to be crafty. Come up with a plan to make sure Solarflare had two SparkMates to protect him from the brutal Megatron, and once the tyrant was out of the picture he would easily dominate Starscream into claiming Solarflare as his prize.   
Yes; Soundwave wanted to become the final member in Solarflares little circle of trust, and help push Megatron out of the circle where he rightfully belongs.   
Uniting with Starscream in overthrowing Megatron was indeed a brilliant plan, but he knew that the treacherous jet wouldn’t stop there. He’d want Solarflare to himself, and leadership of the Decepticons. So Soundwave had to weigh his options carefully, almost as carefully as the way he set Solarflare into a seat and assisted in repairing him with Scrapper. His touch was gentle, his tone when speaking to Solarflare was soothing, and Scrapper had taken notice “If you really want to do it, you should try tonight whilst the plan goes into motion.” Scrapper whispered to Soundwave, who grunted and rubbed his head before continuing to repair the snoozing Solarflare **(second time in the chair, eh?)** “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Scrapper.” Soundwave answered.   
The Constructicon stopped repairs and looked to Soundwave “Let me put it bluntly for you then; you want to become Solarflares Life Mate.” Soundwave coughed and pretended not to hear “I saw the looks you gave Megatron when he did what he did to poor Solarflare; it was the look of someone who would do anything to protect this Triple-Changer from that tyrants touch. So what are you waiting for? Take the chance whilst you still have it.” Scrapper continued, watching as Soundwave finished the repairs and stood up to leave “Repairs are done, follow your...orders...and don’t repair Starscream.” The blue Decepticon repeated, turning to Scrapper and lowering his tone “But Megatron never said you couldn’t give him tools...If he asks for tools, give them to him.” He added, almost whispering to the Constructicon.  
Scrapper chuckled and nodded to Soundwave “As you command, Soundwave. He-he...you know, since Solarflare’s been around you’ve changed. I like the new Soundwave.” Soundwave face-palmed and took his leave without saying a word, he had to be creative and think of a plan to get Solarflare alone whilst keeping Megatron busy enough for him to Bond and Unite with the Triple-Changer. Upon stepping outside Soundwave bumped into Rumble, who was more than happy to see his Boss “Hey Soundwave! The others rescued me but they left Eclipse with the Autobots, were where you?!” the Casseticon was simply stared at by his Boss, and didn’t get as much as a grunt of hum from him. Rumble twitched under the stare and shuffled around Soundwave, which allowed the Chief of Communications to continue on his track to Megatron to set his plan into motion.   
_“Something’s wrong with Soundwave...maybe I should follow him?”_ Rumble thought, deciding to pursue his Boss and see where he went...and more so, find out what he was planning.


	3. Music to My Ears -part 3-

Finally, it was his cue to move. Megatron was gathering the final members of the strike team to defend Siren with; the Constructicons where shuffling up the supplies needed to make the decoy Siren with. Starscream was repairing himself, under the watchful eyes of his fellow Seekers. It was now or never.   
“Soundwave, what have you to report on the Siren?” Megatron questioned, waving off his strike force “The machine is fully operational; however some adjustments had to be made to it.” Soundwave replied as Rumble scooted himself behind a wall and eavesdropped “What had to be changed?” Megatron growled, not forgetting that his own Communications officer was interested in his little plaything.   
Soundwave twitched upon making eye contact with Megatron, and rubbed the back of his helmet as if ashamed “Lord Megatron, Starscream had an unstable channel of rage expelled onto the machine and damaged the coordinative circuitry. We’ll need someone to assist me in running the Siren.” He explained, wearily watching Megatrons movements as the Decepticon leader began orbiting his officer, circling him for weakness or signs of disloyalty “Is that so? Then who do you suggest to accompany you?” Megatron asked in a low tone.  
 This was the moment Soundwave had to plan the most for, the big answer to _“who did you have in mind”_ was going to be the decider in either success or a horrific beating. Thankfully Soundwave was coordinative and logical, and had come up with many ideas for his ‘choices’ that he knew Megatron would decline, without even slipping Solarflare in as a candidate.   
The Leader stopped his circling of the Communications Expert, and flexed his shoulders as if preparing himself for combat, when Soundwave replied “Starscream, he inflicted the damage, he should work with me to make up for it.” In almost an instant, the Decepticon Tyrant threw a fist at Soundwave, forcing him to dodge “Denied! Starscream would likely cause even more damage in the back row than on the front line! Pick someone else!” the next option would help spoon-feed his Leader into going to the choice he wanted, without him even knowing it “Scrapper or one of the Constructicons would be useful, even if they are inferior to me.” Soundwave suggested, having to dodge yet another fist “Denied! The Constructicons are building the decoy Siren and are going to be guarding it to lure the Autobot hordes to them! You choose your next option carefully; otherwise you’ll have to take one of your Casseticons instead!” Soundwave grinned behind his faceplate; he was getting exactly the responses he was expecting from Megatron, even down to the threats.  
 Now was time to throw out the big gun, or fail and once more have to wait for another chance “I would have suggested...Solarflare...but you wouldn’t let him work alongside me even if my Casseticons where all scrapped.” Soundwave stated, Megatron folded his arms and nodded “And you are right, Soundwave. I admire your insight.” Soundwave chuckled, forcing his Leader to become oddly angry again “What do you find so amusing, Soundwave?!” Megatron demanded, observing as the blue Decepticon pointed behind himself “Not even Rumble can assist me; he thinks I’m up to something.” Rumble cursed from behind his hiding place, before fleeing as Megatron scowled in his direction to signify his presence was not desired.   
“Megatron, Solarflare is the only other who could accompany me on the operation of Siren given its current condition. The parts are irreplaceable.” Soundwave explained as Megatron lowered his gaze to his Fusion Cannon and loaded it, before aiming it at Soundwave “Give me one good reason as to why I should not find your proposition suspicious, and I might let you live.” The Leader snarled, Soundwave remained calm and stood his ground before delivering his answer “You don’t want Solarflare on the battlefield, but you also know that leaving him here on his own is not wise either. His place is in the field of science, and he would be fulfilling his drive to work in safety alongside me.” Soundwave then continued, chuckling “You have nothing to fear, Megatron. I did some thinking, and found that the feelings I once had for Solarflare where illogical. I do not desire his company any longer, which is why I didn’t use him as one of my options before you cut my other choices apart.” Megatron lowered his Fusion Cannon, and assessed what Soundwave had just told him.   
Truly Soundwaves plan had worked so far, as Megatron did not shoot him right away. He just hoped the tyrant didn’t see a flaw in his explanation and turn on him “Very well then, Soundwave. Solarflare shall work on the Siren with you. However, his wings are to be removed so he cannot attempt to escape with Starscream or any other Decepticon who happens to be seeing Solarflare incognito.” Megatron answered, Soundwave nodded as his response and further suggested to Megatron “His weapons should be removed too, he appears unstable as of now, and we do not want to give him a reason to attempt battle.” Megatron agreed, and eased his posture before patting Soundwave on the shoulder “You have your orders then Soundwave. Go and remove Solarflares weapons and wings, and take him to the Siren to begin work immediately. We shall rendezvous within two hours.” Soundwave saluted before taking his leave, to explain to Solarflare of their new task, and why his wings and weapons had to be confiscated.  
  
Several hours later, the Decepticons had been found out just as they had begun operation ‘Sirens Song’. It seemed the Constructicons decoy had only attracted Autobot Decoys, whilst the real Autobots had started a battle outside of the hidden location to the real Siren. The machine was located inside of an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by apartment buildings and the like. It was well situated for its task of hypnotising the humans, but Soundwave was not going to just take advantage of the location on Sirens part. The sounds of the bustling city and the combat outside, plus the machines own noise, would prevent Megatron and Starscream from even detecting their prized SparkMate was being taken by a new rival.  
So whilst the lead Decepticon forces where pushing the Autobots away from Siren outside, Soundwave and Solarflare had to get it running.   
Of course, when explaining how Siren worked to Megatron the Chief of Communications made it sound difficult...but in actual entirety it was a simple push of a button to start it up, not two individuals having to connect one wire to another and press several buttons in unison. Soundwave was never going to tell Megatron he came up with that long excuse to have a chance with Solarflare. No, he’d never be permitted to do so. He would be hawked every day and night, watched, beaten, threatened. He himself said that if he wanted to get anywhere near what he wanted, he’d have to lie.   
“Solarflare, press that button.” Soundwave instructed, pointing to the middle button in a keyboard “Just that button. The others don’t do anything. Press it and the machine will do the rest.” He hoped that Solarflare wouldn’t start asking questions, and for a moment he was relieved as the Triple-Changer just pressed the button without hesitation.   
The machine then started up, releasing a low rumbling sound and pulsing sound waves from the protruding stubs. The machine hummed as it began to vibrate, making Solarflare rub his head from the strange sounds, whilst Soundwave just stood and watched the events unfold. His weapon would weaken the Autobots in combat, lure in Human Slaves, and most important for him...keep Megatron totally unaware of any sounds that happened inside the building “Soundwave, why did you tell Megatron the machine needed both of us if it didn’t?” Solarflare asked, adjusting his helmet.   
The duo had gotten over the problems of the past, and where friends again, but they both had so many questions to ask each other. Some of them they simply couldn’t share, wouldn’t share....shouldn’t share.   
“I wanted us both to spend some time together.” Soundwave answered calmly, leaning against the machine and totally ignoring the vibrations it emitted “If you wanted to hang out, you could have just asked—” Solarflare was cut short as he felt Soundwave hold his hand “—it was not to hang out.” He answered, steadily pulling Solarflare to his side.   
The Triple-Changer looked around him as if suspecting a surprise ‘attack’ from Megatron, but before he could get a good look he was already beside Soundwave, lying against the Siren “Now Solarflare, a lesson for you. Feel the machine to be one with sound; feel its beat. Feel its pulse. Its melody.” Soundwave began, keeping his hand within Solarflares “Close your eyes. Listen. Do not think, do not speak. Just absorb the sounds, hear the message it delivers. Every beat, pulse and chord is a word in a long and complicated language. A language I understand and I wish to share with you.” Solarflare closed his eyes and relaxed against the machine, feeling the thud from each beat, the shimmer of vibrations from the pulses.  
Thud-dump. Thud-dump. Thud-dump. Thud-dump...each pulse and beat made the machine sound and feel as if it were alive and breathing right next to them.   
Solarflare exhaled, taking in the sounds “I hear it...Soundwave, you’re right...the machine sounds like its alive...” the Triple-Changer chuckled, until he felt one of Soundwaves fingers press against his mouth “Don’t talk yet, listen more. Deeper. Hear the buzzing, a sound that most find agitating. But when listened to closely, it speaks.” Solarflare exhaled again when he felt Soundwaves frame lay on top of him, opening his eyes to see the Communications Expert sat on his waist, legs on each side of him. “The buzzing, what does it say?” Soundwave asked, placing his hands onto Solarflares abdomen, stroking him gently “I...I don’t know...” Solarflare answered, holding back a blush. If this were another Decepticon, besides his other 2 SparkMates, Solarflare would have already fought back; but a while ago Soundwave was a potential mate, and now with very few options left with Megatron stalking him most of the time, he decided to see where this evening would go.   
Soundwave placed one of his hands onto Solarflares cheeks “It says; _I am preparing_. The machine is warming up, the buzz is the generator saying it is getting ready, the humming sound is the carburettor filtering the Energon, readying it.” Solarflare blinks “...what does the pulse mean?” he asked meekly. Soundwave trails his hand back to Solarflares abdomen “...brewing...” he exhaled. Solarflare raised one of his arms and trailed one of his fingers across his partners faceplate “...what...is brewing...” Solarflare hummed, as Soundwave steadily retracted his faceplate “...us.” he whispered, leaning down to Solarflare and planting a gentle kiss on his neck.   
This was most likely the first time anybot, anytime, had seen Soundwave without his faceplate; and that alone gave Solarflare the confidence he needed to allow this behaviour, for if he was willing to show him something he had never shown anyone else, and was willing to share secrets about sound with him that few would ever know, he was prepared to share his knowledge with him...including the Data on his Solar-Powered devices, a strand of Data he would never give to anyone else.   
Solarflare let out a gasp as he felt Soundwave grasp his Uplink Cable, still kissing him on the neck passionately, and steadily pull it out. As a reflex, Solarflare grasped Soundwaves arms and clung to them as if his life depended on it, as the connection was finally made.   
A moment of silence flowed through the pair as they began to share Data, and reform The Bond that was severed some time ago by Megatrons blasted machines. And as the Bond was made, Solarflare felt Soundwave within him, he felt his Spark pulse...his circuits tingle...and as the Intelligence Expert absorbed more of Soundwaves knowledge of sound, he began to understand more about pretty much everything; the tingle in Soundwaves circuits he heard, and felt, where signs of positive ‘emotions’...the pulse of his Spark increasing meant he was excited...and the humming of his motors meant he was only just warming up.   
Solarflare was now understanding that his partner in work was soon to become his third and final partner for life, and in a way, it brought a slight smile to his face. They had been friends for a long time, and their work together was always at its best when they were close. The one thing however that Solarflare was uneasy of was Megatron. Should he learn of this liaison, what would he do to both of his chosen SparkMates? Outcast them? Destroy them? He did not care for his own safety, not after what he learnt from his creator, but he did care about the safety of his friends and ‘lovers’. If Solarflare wasn’t so...special...the other Decepticons would have openly called him a slut, tart, whore...but the special things about him made them instead call him friend, confiner, brother and brooder; Because they cared about him in return. Only three would ever have the right to call him SparkMate, and only one of those three would ever have the right to be called his Life Mate. And the one, who was honoured by that title, was the first one to produce offspring. Only then would the knot be tied, as once the young where stocked and left to develop until eventually hatching, the ‘father’ would then become Solarflares SparkMate for life.   
But should the young be killed before hatching then the cycle would start all over again. Nobot was certain why Solarflares relationship pattern was so complicated; some believe he made up the rules to stop himself from being used as a cheap thrill, where as others say it was part of his programming just to have one Life Mate. Soundwave was going to try everything within his power to claim that third spot and hope to beat Megatron to the sinister goal he sought. For Soundwave just wanted Solarflares company and voice, he didn’t care if he became a father, he knew he would easily learn to accept it when it came to it. And with both the rival SparkMates fighting the Autobots, and cracking Solarflares Firewall so easily, Soundwave thought that now would be the best time to try it. If he failed now, then he’d have to try again later...before Megatron finds out.   
“S-Soundwave!!! H-how did you—my—my firewall—it—” Solarflare moaned, as Soundwave took down his Firewall in less than thirty seconds. Starscream had to use all his energy and took several minutes to penetrate Solarflares Firewall, and Soundwave didn’t even have to lift a finger. The duo then quietened, as the SparkMate Bond took place.   
Soundwave raised Solarflare up against him, and held him close, feeling the Triple-Changer tense in his arms. Once the SparkMate Bond was made, Solarflare expected Soundwave to release him or tease him like Starscream did, but what he got instead was a shock. Soundwave kept Solarflare close, and the Triple-Changer could faintly make out the words _“I hope this works...”_ come from his new SparkMate “Soundwave...?” Solarflare asked meekly looking up to the one embracing him, Soundwave appeared to be heavily concentrating on something and didn’t seem to hear Solarflare.   
The Triple-Changer leaned up closer to Soundwave, and kissed him on the lips to gain his attention, but still nothing. It was a delay of a few seconds after the kiss that Solarflare felt something tickle in his circuits, and the motion of the tickles left him believing Soundwave was engaging in teasing him. However, Soundwave was not talking. He was just listening and doing...whatever it was he was doing. The tickling made Solarflare giggle, and lose control over certain...functions. “Hahaha...Soundwave, I didn’t know you where the playful type!” Solarflares giggling soon subsided, and was substituted with a heavy moan as Soundwave increased his grip on Solarflare “This isn’t playing, Flare.” He whispered “This is something more special.” He added.   
The Triple-Changer gazed at Soundwave in curiosity, not at all certain of what was actually going on, and tried to break loose of Soundwaves grip followed by absolute failure to do so. “Don’t struggle, Flare...please...” he whispered to the now frail-looking Triple-Changer “I’ll be quick. Just relax.” Solarflare didn’t quite understand what Soundwave was getting at, but he chose to trust him, even if the Communications Expert was holding onto him a bit tight.   
To make Solarflare feel a little more dominated, he found himself lying back against the Siren with his wrists grasped by Soundwave. Finally the picture started to become clear; Soundwave was going to try a Fusion. Solarflare wasn’t quite sure if he wanted that, especially after only just becoming SparkMates with him; he had to think things through before making the decision, but it seemed he was far weaker than Soundwave in this predicament, as he was the puppet under his masters’ control.   
Solarflare felt a wave of some sort flow through his circuits, which he believed was a low-pressured sound his SparkMate had emitted to entice him into cooperating “S-Soundwave—I—I don’t think we should *gasp!*” yet another sound pulsed through Solarflares circuits, this time, a much higher one. He raised his knees up to force Soundwave from him, but instead fell right into his SparkMates trap. As his knees where raised, Soundwave slipped through the middle of them and slammed his weight down onto Solarflare, thereby pinning him down more effectively “Flare, don’t struggle. Just relax.” Solarflare began gasping under the weight of his partner, and squinted his eyes as if seeking pity from his captor “Flare don’t give me that look, this is for the best.” Soundwave whispered, opening his chest compartment and pulling out several of his own circuit wires “It’s either the sound, Flare, or the shocks. You choose.” Solarflare continued to plead for pity from his partner through expression rather than words, which resulted in Soundwave tucking his wiring back and sending out bass-like sound waves through Solarflares body instead of the more harsh treatment.   
The Triple-Changer was refusing to fully submit, and Soundwave was beginning to lose patience, that was when he got a stroke of genius from his own creation, the Siren.   
“Listen to the sounds, Flare. Feel them rush through your circuits, feel them pulse within you...let them open you...” Soundwave whispered to his moaning lover, who indeed couldn’t resist his words and listened to the machine to take his mind off of what he believed was going to be a ‘living nightmare’. Soundwave began giving Solarflare his Bios settings, which would have been done before but due to the uncertainty of the battle outside, Soundwave had chosen to put off that painstakingly long process to this point “Upload, Vector Sigma, upload!” Soundwave cursed, hearing his SparkMate mutter _“Download, Vector Sigma, download”_ as a natural response. It seemed he was finally being encouraged to develop the process, which brought a sigh of relief from the Communication Decepticon, yet this process was indeed painstakingly long. If a meter could show just how slow the data upload really was, it would possibly fill up five percent every ten minutes.  
Soundwave could easily speed up the procedure by using his energy, but that posed the risk of detection by Megatron.   
“Faster, Wave, faster...uploads more...if done faster...” Solarflare purred, brushing his helmet against the machine. Soundwave chuckled at how poor Solarflares logic circuits seemed to be when brought down to this level; when his mind was at ease and he just did what came naturally (ignoring his Logic Circuits) Soundwave saw exactly what Starscream saw in him, and understood why the Seeker wanted him so badly. But a unity between the pair was not likely, as one would have to make Solarflare conceive before the other ‘fathers’ Hatchlings hatched, thereby creating a dual partnership and more protection.   
As much as Solarflare would like that, neither Starscream nor Soundwave would enjoy the idea of sharing...at least, not right now.   
Soundwave decided that he could try to continue uploading his Bios Settings to Solarflare and resume the Fusion, though he was not certain of what would happen if he did so. Thankfully the machine hummed louder, gaining most of Solarflares attention, enough so for his body to continue with the Fusion process with him none the wiser.   
A compartment opened up within Solarflares abdomen exposing strange, thick, neon-like wiring, which Soundwave connected to wiring of his own. The Triple-Changer trembled as the two types of wire connected, and began struggling again under Soundwaves grasp coming out of his trance “*Gasp* V-vector Sigma! Soundwave, s-stop! N-not—there—AGH! *gasp*” Solarflare moaned, and began begging for Soundwave to release him, but his captor had gotten them both this far, he had to continue “P-Primus!!” the Triple-Changer cried as the final wires ‘fused’, ensuring they were fully connected to one another.   
Solarflare just needed to be stimulated into releasing his Nano-bots now...a process which would require a great deal of work since the SparkMate on the receiving end was not interested in conceiving.   
“Shhh, Flare. I’m here.” Soundwave whispered, holding his companion close to him in a hug, feeling him tremble in his arms. Unless Solarflare was calmed down, Soundwave would never be able to finish the job. Just a few pushes should bring the Triple-Changer down from hiding his content, but what could be used to ‘push’ him? For a moment Soundwave just thought, giving his partner a moment to rest and regain his own thoughts, when another idea hit him.   
The flesh creatures had their way of soothing their partners; Soundwave just had to find out his own ways. But where could he start? Direct advancement just resulted in Solarflare becoming afraid, and if they just remained the way they were right now then nothing would happen between them. If Starscream were the one doing this, he’d know what to do “That’s it...” Soundwave muttered; Starscream was the answer. What did that treacherous Jet do that made Solarflare so submissive? The only things Soundwave could remember from those recordings were that he fondled him and played with him, made him feel good.   
Although he hated the idea of taking pointers from Starscream, it was either that or failing in his task. And failure was never an option, not under Soundwaves registry. Solarflare felt Soundwave pull him up and rest him against the Siren, still hugging him, and begin stroking his helmet. Solarflare at first didn’t know what to make of the gestures, and smiled shyly at Soundwave as his only form of response.   
That was when Soundwave raised Solarflares leg, and started to kiss him passionately on the lips and neck, which made said partners generator start up, and his face to glow with a vibrant pink hue “*moan* P-Primus—!” Solarflare exhaled when Soundwave released his lips and began stroking his captives’ upper legs. The Triple-Changer arched himself directly onto the Siren as if slowly going limp, and raised his other leg and wrapped it behind Soundwaves back, clinging to him to support his weight.   
Now Soundwave could try out his next move; he lowered his hands onto his partners rear, to keep Solarflare held up, and pushed his weight on him. This effectively, rammed Solarflare into the Sirens frame; which was still pulsing and vibrating with energy. Soundwave was not having any trouble giving Solarflare his share of Nano-Bots, as he was getting the thing he always wanted ever since he first heard Solarflare make those sounds...him as a SparkMate, begging for release...but at the same time, begging for more.   
“*moan* S-Soundwave...more...” the Triple-Changer eased his struggling, and finally submitted, giving Soundwave the chance to release his tight grip and to pull Solarflare into a much gentler hug.   
Solarflare was still not interested in conceiving, but was now no longer putting up a fight against Soundwaves attempts. The vibrations from the Siren eased his limbs, making him a much easier target for Soundwave to stimulate.   
Said Decepticon proceeded with his partners’ request, and lowered one of Solarflares legs so he could support most of his own weight, before ramming his abdomen onto Solarflares, jolting the connected wires into life. As his SparkMate began panting, sucking in masses of airwith each breath, Soundwave sensed he was not far from getting what he wanted “*gasp* Ugh...I...I feel you...Wave...” Solarflare moaned, looking up at his dominant other-half tiredly, as if expressing his submission to him “And I’m with you now. Help me finish this evening with a bang.” Soundwave whispered, trailing his hands down to Solarflares hips, squeezing them teasingly causing the captive to moan again “*moan* S-Soundwave—I’m—*moan*” Soundwave listened closely, hoping to hear the two words he wanted to, but instead felt one of Solarflares jets fire up. So long as he got this done quickly, Solarflares generator wouldn’t reach its peak and that would save Soundwave getting badly burnt.   
If he didn’t want that to happen, he’d have to do something to get Solarflare to open up _now_. “S-Soundwave! What are you--*gasp*” this was a drastic measure; he had severed their connection through the uplink cable and was now connected only by the wires from their abdomens. But he did not let Solarflares Uplink Cable retract, no; he held onto it. And before Solarflare was aware of what was going to happen, Soundwave began fondling with the cable. Squeezing it, stroking it, tasting it.   
With each motion, Solarflare gasped and moaned violently, losing control over his engine oil and leaking some over Soundwaves pelvis.   
The Dominating SparkMate hummed with pleasure hearing his partner make such amazing sounds, and found the best method to arouse his SparkMate was to handle his Uplink Cable like a plaything. Solarflare groaned when Soundwave stopped handling his cable to further deploy more Nano-bots, hoping that would help. The look on the Triple-Changers face told Soundwave to keep going, and he faintly heard him whisper _“More.”_ Soundwave was more than happy to oblige, and pulled the closed Uplink Cable to his mouth, and licked the end.   
Solarflare gasped, and for a moment Soundwave felt something tickle within Solarflares abdomen. He had found the stimulus needed, he just had to take it up a notch. And giving Solarflare a moment to gain his breath, and see the glimmer of seduction within Soundwaves eyes, the larger Decepticon chuckled.   
Solarflare looked to his partner, exhausted, wondering what he would do next. And the instant he saw Soundwave open his mouth, he gasped and pleaded he don’t attempt what he thought he was going to. But his captor was not going to cease, and he planted the Uplink Cable into his mouth, and began sucking. Solarflares face fully glowed pink with blush, and he grasped onto Soundwave tightly, feeling weak in the knees.   
With each suck on his cable, Solarflare screamed. Be it for Primus, Vector Sigma or Soundwave himself, the Communications Expert was more than pleased with how this evening had come along. And finally, after one final suck, Soundwave felt Solarflares hatch pull open “SOUNDWAVE!!! I can’t—I can’t hold it—anymore—!” the Triple-Changer screamed, as the wires from his Uplink Cable released and latched onto Soundwaves tongue. The blue Decepticon hummed, and continued regardless of the fact he had the wires flailing around in his mouth. _“Just one more push should do it.”_ Soundwave thought, opening his mouth and moaning as the wires released him, trailing his tongue up the cable to the end.   
He became so fixated on Solarflare, that he didn’t notice Rumble enter the building “Boss? Yo, Soundwave? The Autobots caused Megatron and the others to retreat. Are you still here?” Rumble called out, only to cringe upon hearing Solarflare moaning and screaming _“I—I’m—releasing--!”_ Rumble heard, and didn’t know if he dared investigate. But he had to find Soundwave and bury the Siren before the Autobots found out where it was.   
He had to continue in the building for Soundwave had disabled his communications devices in order to remain undetected by Megatron, and most likely didn’t even hear the call for the retreat. He continued to lick and suck on Solarflares Cable, even as he felt the Triple-Changer finally release his Nano-bots. After all that work, Soundwave had won not only this battle with Solarflares hardy body, but also against his rivals Megatron and Starscream. He just had to ensure neither of the pair could get their own Nano-bots in Solarflare, and the most likely way of keeping himself tops over the others was to give Solarflare as many of his as possible.   
“Boss? Soundwave, where are you?” Rumble called out, following the sounds of Solarflares cries, to Sirens Storage. And there he stood, in the doorway, mouth agape in shock as he witnessed his ‘boss’ engaging in Fusion with Solarflare. The one Decepticon he would never have wanted to see under him.   
“BOSS! What are you DOING!?” Rumble flailed, and rushed to Soundwave and attempted to pull him from Solarflare. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t sever the duo. He had, however, gained the attention of his boss who glared down at him with his Faceplate now back up “Rumble, I’m busy.” Soundwave said coldly, allowing Solarflare to retreat his Uplink Cable and regain lost breath “B-but...the Autobots...they’ve forced us to retreat, and Megatron told us to bury the Siren...and...And you’re here doing _things_ to that freak?!” Rumble whined. Soundwave severed the unity between himself and Solarflare, and cleaned himself off. “He’s not a freak” he chuckled “but I _was_ doing things to him.” Soundwave ended in a bitter tone, glaring down at Rumble “Things Megatron should never do, ever.”   
The Casseticon cowered for a moment under his Boss’ heavy glare and almost felt like he was about to be stepped on, when said Boss turned to the Siren and placed his hands on his hips. “Help me bury the machine, but if you so much as spark a word of this to anyone else, you’re in trouble.” Soundwave growled. Rumble gulped and nodded his head, before turning his arms into his ‘shaker makers’ as he liked to call them.    
“Now Rumble. Operation; hide the evidence.” Soundwave ordered, pointing to the Siren “Yes sir...” Rumble muttered, sounding rather disappointed. But with that order, Rumble began to destroy the floor and foundations of the building, to bury Siren.   
Soundwave approached Solarflare and picked him up in his arms, watching as the Triple-Changer panted and looked up at his ‘master’ for support “It’s done now Flare, rest.” Soundwave whispered, watching as his SparkMate smiled and drifted to sleep in his arms “Keep it secret, keep it safe.” He whispered, flying off into the sky with his SparkMate in his arms.  
  
 _“We’re brewing something special together, you and I.”_


	4. Unforgiven -part 1-

_“It’s not every day you hear those words...”_  
One. Two.  
 _“They cut through all else, with no accord...”_  
Three. Four.  
 _“Those three words that are shunned, yet like forbidden Energon they taste so sweet...”  
_ Five. Six.   
“From the first time I met you, I wanted to be with you. You carried me into the sky; swept me from my feet...”  
Seven. Eight. _  
“How it tingles within my circuits just to hear him speak those three words, it sends shivers down my spinal column...I don’t know what I’d do without him...”  
_ Nine.  
 _“I don’t know where I would go, what I would do...”  
TEN.  
“...just to hear you say ‘I love you.’”_  
  
Starscream leapt from his position behind the doorway, and shot aimlessly at his target over and over again without remorse. The lust in his eyes to see his rivals bleed Energon overpowered his initiative to aim at the points he told himself to, and so, he just fired. He fired for the right. For over the past few weeks the tension within the Decepticon camp had hit an all time high, and trust crashed to an all-time low.   
Several individuals had reached breaking point and had taken leave to Cybertron to wait for the madness to settle; but with all three of them still alive, it seemed the waiting would be a great deal longer than previously expected.   
“Starscreams lost it! I’m heading to the Moon base; I can’t work in these conditions!” Scrapper pouted waving to his fellow Constructicons as they dodged his fire, but it was not they who the Commander was aiming for...no...He was aiming for _him_. _The slime of the Nebula:_ _Soundwave_.   
“I’ll sever that head of yours Soundwave and give it to Solarflare as a present! I’m certain he would be pleased!” Starscream laughed, shooting at the Chief of Communication as he attempted to return fire “Starscreams settings inferior, Soundwaves settings superior. Solarflare knows this, so delivering your thrusters to him shall please him greatly.” Soundwave answered back, taking cover behind a desk which he flipped over to use as a barrier.   
Starscream turned his frame back to behind the wall, glancing around the corner to see if his target had exposed himself “My settings are NOT inferior, you slag!” the jet yelled, before jumping back into the doorway and firing at the table furiously “I was his first; I should be the one he chooses!” Starscream cried out, continuing to fire.   
Soundwave scoped his hands through the loose paperwork to find a grenade, which he removed the pin from before throwing it out the doorway and into Starscreams face, watching as it detonated sending his rival crashing into the wall. The Constructicons gathered what precious documents and the like they could before rushing past the now heavily shot at Starscream, avoiding Soundwaves shots, outside and onto the runway waving Astrotrain to stop before he could take off with his cargo of Energon “Astrotrain, get us out of here!” Scavenger whined, rushing to Astrotrains door and attempted to force it open “Geez guys, this is just Starscream and Soundwave. It’s not like it’s all three of them.” Astrotrain groaned “Exactly! We want out before Megatron arrives, which he surely will!” Scavenger panicked and waved to his fellow Constructicons “Astrotrain won’t take us out of here! Constructicons merge and become Devastator!” he threatened to Astrotrain, who immediately opened his door “Whoa, WHOA! Okay I’ll take you wherever you want, just don’t turn into Devastator! Vector Sigma, with you guys gone that will just leave the Combaticons as our last merger...” the Constructicons didn’t answer, and hauled all their cargo onboard Astrotrain before being flown off to the Moon Base.   
Blitzwing rushed out from the Triple-Changer Hangar and waved to Astrotrain, calling him back. Once again he missed the chance to escape from the mess, and he pouted when observing Starscream and Soundwave rushing onto the Runway shooting at each other. “This wouldn’t have happened if Solarflare said yes...” Blitzwing muttered before hauling himself off back to the Triple-Changer Hanger in tank-mode, protecting himself from the two Decepticons missed attacks.   
“I have done more for Solarflare than you have you two-faced, rusted, sorry excuse for a Decepticon!” Starscream roared, continuing to fire on Soundwave and in return be hit by several of his rivals’ shots “I danced inside Solarflare, and I liked his music. And I think he liked my dancing, because he begged for more. Unlike you were he begs for you to stop.” Soundwave laughed getting in a clean hit on Starscreams right wing, punching several holes through it with his gun, holding his fire as he watched the Seeker pull back in pain “Y-you...Slime...” he cringed “Your repair work is dilapidated, leaving you in a vulnerable state. Surrender now or be terminated.” Soundwave announced, holding his weapon upright to allow the overheating muzzle to cool down.   
Starscream spat in Soundwaves direction and flexed his wings “NO pain here, Soundwave. I can still fight, so don’t put pity on me!” the Seeker responded, beginning his firing again. Soundwave casually shot at both of Starscreams Ray guns, and chuckled as they fell apart from the shots. The Commander snarled and removed the remaining parts of the weapons, before putting up his fists “Come on then, you talking pile of slag, I’m still in on this!” Soundwave didn’t even so much as show signs of continuing the fight, as he had seen what Starscream could not.   
“What in Cybertron are you both doing?!” whined a familiar voice from behind Starscream, catching his attention thereby ending the current battle against Soundwave. It seemed the pair had been fighting outside of Hangar one; Solarflares Workspace and Resting Zone. The pair lowered their weapons/fists and rubbed their helmets, embarrassed as the weary and bloated-looking Solarflare exited the security of his Hangar.   
The Triple-Changer yawned and rubbed one of his eyes before glaring at the pair “I made it clear that you fighting each other like this didn’t impress me! I feel like slag, I hate Megatron and wish someone would destroy him right now and you two fighting is just seriously agitating my rage circuits!” the chemical (aka Hormonal) Triple-Changer lectured, observing as the two rivals looked to him for pity in unison before glaring at each other with destruction in their eyes. He sensed it was coming...the next fight...he was just waiting for them to try it, so he could slap some sense into both of them.   
Sadly Solarflare didn’t have to wait long, for within a minute of them making eye-contact the duo where at each other’s throats threatening to rip out a voice box or tear off a head. The Triple-Changer approached with his hands on his hips, pulled Starscream from Soundwave and slapped him across the face “Starscream, do us both a favour and go repair yourself, you’re falling apart!” the Seeker rubbed his cheek before turning to Soundwave to attack again, when Solarflare repeated the slapping “Screamer! If you want me to truly conceive for you, you need to do this one important thing for me; GROW UP.” The Triple-Changer pierced through Starscreams mental defences with a very powerful glare, placing his hands on his hips and swaying side to side flashing his abdomen in the Seekers face “You want more of this? Go repair yourself and I’ll think about it.” Soundwave clenched his fists as Starscream stood up and blushed, and the Communications Expert looked ready to throw the next punch when suddenly Solarflare managed to dropkick him to the floor “You too Soundwave! If you want to make music with me, you have to clean up your act!” he growled, turning back to his Hangar “I drank too much Oil and don’t feel well, so don’t come to me, I’ll come to you.” He hissed before entering his Hangar, slamming the doors behind him.   
Starscream rubbed the back of his helmet and observed his hand, noticing that both Soundwave and Solarflare were indeed correct; he was falling apart. Megatron had been chasing him around the Base, hunting him to deliver fatal beatings, but managing to keep one step ahead in repairing himself Starscream managed to survive each attack. He was, however, still denied repair work from all but himself; this made living much more difficult, with him having little time to steal an Energon Cube or two from the Storage due to Megatron usually being there expecting him.   
Times in the Decepticon ranks where becoming so tough that Starscream had resorted to flying to somewhere else to steal Energy and repair himself, sometimes going so far as the other side of the world. He didn’t stay away from the Base for too long however, as like Megatron he was hawking Solarflare and fighting off his competition, resulting in a cycle that often repeated itself.   
When fighting Soundwave; Starscream was more than capable of holding his own, though their fights have always ended in a stalemate. The fights against Megatron were so one-sided that Starscream so far has failed to win (I wonder why that sounds familiar?) “Go and repair, Starscream. I’ll give you a head start.” Soundwave announced, turning to the Energon Storage and picking up his gun “I don’t need your sympathy! Come and get me if you dare—” Soundwave turned to Starscream and stared, coldly and without saying a word before leaving.   
The Seeker narrowed his eyes and turned to the repair station to gather materials and tools to fix himself with, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Megatron arriving. If Starscream was in fighting condition he would have stayed put to stop Megatron from going to where he knew he was going, but his injuries meant that a fight with Megatron right now would be suicidal. Why fight now to prevent Megatron spending ‘quality time’ with Solarflare if he’d just die trying and fail to stop him in the process? He can always stalk Solarflare after he repairs himself, and attempt to override anything Megatron _dared_ put into his partner. Doing that made more sense than sheer recklessness. And so knowing what the best option was, Starscream fled the Sky Platform without tools or Energon, and flew wherever the wind happened to carry him.   
Megatron took notice of his Commander fleeing in a panic and smirked upon landing on the Runway, turning to Hangar one and sliding the doors open “Starscream that better not be you.” Solarflare groaned as he continued building something in the corner of the room.   
Megatron smiled deviously as he entered and closed the doors behind him; slowly stalking towards his prey attempting to ensure Solarflare did not know who it was that had entered his domain “Soundwave?” Solarflare asked in an annoyed tone, turning to look over his shoulder; but he saw no one, and continued working.   
The sound of something falling from its place caught the scientists’ attention, forcing him to fully turn around and see who caused the object to fall. But again, he didn’t see anyone. The Triple-Changers eyes scoped the room franticly as he continued to hear sounds of movement, but did not see the one responsible for the sounds, and in the pit of his Energon Processor he began to feel sick with fear. Neither of his trusted SparkMates would attempt to frighten him, as would no other Decepticon who called himself a friend. Only one Decepticon fit the bill; Megatron.   
  
The thought of why said Leader had entered his Hangar without saying a word and had attempted to sneak up on him left Solarflare dreading the reasons for his being here; his intentions to use him as a breeder for a new army had already been made clear, but Solarflare was also suspecting that Megatron wanted to use him to control Soundwave and Starscream.   
The sound of something falling off his desk behind him instantly made the Triple-Changing scientist return to examining his work, keeping his eyes on wherever the sounds came from. Solarflare did not notice that Megatron had snuck up on him as soon as he returned to facing the desk and was slowly edging his monstrous arms around him, preparing to restrain him within his grasp.   
A soft chuckle slipped from the Decepticon Leaders mouth which alerted the jet of his oncoming fate. The instant Solarflare attempted to turn around Megatron wrapped one of his arms across Solarflares throat, whilst wrapping the other across his captives’ abdomen “Neither of those fools, my dear.” Megatron whispered in a seductive tone, feeling the frantic breaths and racing Spark of his catch “Don’t call me that!” Solarflare hissed, groaning as Megatron began crushing his abdomen “I am your Leader, and your partner, so I can call you whatever I want. And I can do whatever I want to you.” The Decepticon Tyrant chuckled “Who was your last visitor?” he asked seductively. Solarflare groaned and hissed _“Starscream”_ through his teeth, exhaling in pain as Megatron gripped tighter “That little Razor Snake? Hahaha I might have used too much effort to terminate _his_ pathetic produce.” Megatron mocked, easing his force on his ‘breeder’ “There we go you should be all clean now for me.” Solarflare growled as he felt Megatron trail a hand up his back, and using the same arm that was just crushing him seconds ago, pulled out his Uplink Cable.   
The Triple-Changer squirmed and tried to force his cable to retract, but all he got in return was Megatron increasing his grip across his neck.   
This was the fifth time Megatron had visited just to kill any brewing offspring and plant his own, and Solarflare was growing more submissive to him with each occurrence. He hated Megatron with a passion, but instinct (or Programming if you will) told him that he was by far the most powerful of the three partners, and not only powerful in body but also in mind and ego. No matter how many times Soundwave ‘danced’ with him, no matter how much of his ‘juice’ Starscream gave to him, Megatron just crushed them all under his brute force like Insecticons; wasting their efforts.   
How was it then that Megatron had never successfully made Solarflare conceive? Simple; Solar’s sheer spitefulness for Megatron weakened his produce, so when Starscream or Soundwave attempt the alien Nano-bots are easily picked off by the new arrivals. But growing weary of his two preferred males’ constant efforts being crushed within him, Solarflare was starting to allow Megatron to just do whatever he wanted and hope that one day he became careless.   
There were things that he refused his dominating other to do, such as touching his Uplink Cable inappropriately. However Megatron had his own methods of getting into Solarflare without the need to connect that ‘toy’ as he called it to himself, he just enjoyed frightening his victim and making him angry.   
“Who’s been touching your toy this time, hmm?” Megatron teased, allowing the cable to retract through his fingers. The Triple-Changer he captured remained silent, and snarled as a response. However, as his back was turned to Megatron his captor could not see his rage. But just by touch Megatron knew he was in a foul mood, and decided now was the best time to try and arouse his captive in a different manner.   
“Oh I nearly forgot... _Starscream_. Perhaps I should sever his cable and watch him crawl into a corner and die, or cry knowing him.” Using his free hand, Megatron circled his fingers across Solarflares helmet as if tempted to take it off and see the strange crest underneath, but this was not his target. No, he continued to trail his hand down the back of Solarflares oddly-shaped helmet until reaching the Uplink Cable and two docking ports. The cable he was not interested in; the docking ports, he was.   
“Let’s give your brain a ride away from that work you’ve been doing...” Megatron breathed onto Solarflares neck seductively, sending shivers down the captives’ spine. Solarflare tensed as he felt Megatron kiss the back of his neck and slip his tongue into one of his docking ports, releasing a soft moan before forcing himself to stop. Megatron trailed his free hand to Solarflares mouth and forced him to continue with his vocal processes, with the tyrant licking the back of his prizes neck teasingly to keep him stimulated.   
Solarflare was struggling to contain his arousal for any longer, and felt the impact of being thrust onto his desk with his captor releasing the lock around his neck. But he was not to be released from this lustful moment just yet, as Megatron sought to give Solarflare his produce before even considering it.   
The giant moved aside Solarflares work and repositioned his partner to rest against the desk with his back still facing him, slamming his hands onto his SparkMates shoulders and massaging them “We’ve both been working so hard, let’s unwind.” Megatron hummed, leaning over the Triple-Changers back and once more began licking his neck. The scientist gasped as Megatron forced his Fusion Cavity open single-handedly, and moaned in agony as Megatron had his way with him on the desk.  
 The Decepticon Leader chuckled as he continued to pleasure himself by tormenting his captive, forcing his sinus wires across his back and into his abdomen opening. Solarflare began to moan orgasmically as Megatrons brutal and unceasing advances tensed his limbs, forcing him into releasing his content.   
The sounds would not have gone unnoticed by Soundwave, who seemed to have the keenest auditory sensors in the whole faction (and rightly so, as its part of his work to hear all). Megatron was ready for Soundwave to show up and pick a fight, but he also knew that the Chief of Communications would fail in combat and so chose not to care about if he was interrupted or not. The tyrant was truly dominating his partner, not even giving him a chance to regain his breath or clear his thoughts enough to understand what was going on, so even if Soundwave arrived Solarflare would be unaware of what would be said between them. A human might put it that Megatron was literally _“fucking Solarflares brains out”_ , though other Decepticons would simply say Megatron was just being abusive to his mate.   
Said Triple-Changer slowly became numb around his cavity, showing signs of his Generator failing to fire, and thereby allowing Megatron to continue with the hacking without Solarflare being able to deflect him should his body be incapable of taking anymore of the pressures. The tyrant laughed as he noticed his partner start crying Energon, and hissed _“Say my name, Hellhound.”_  
  
Soundwave remained none the wiser in the Energon hangar, as he was busy counting the remaining Energon whilst drinking his own share, preparing a list for Astrotrains next shipment.   
_“Now that we have Decepticons on the Moon, Cybertron and Monacus we need to ensure this Energon is shared equally...”_ Soundwave thought, listing down how many cubes should head off to the Moon _“Should I send some Energon to Mars, even though the base isn’t finished?”_ he thought, placing the empty Energon Cube he just drank aside and resting his free arm on his hip.   
He felt agitated, twitchy...like he felt he had to be somewhere else, but he couldn’t quite understand where or why. The Chief of Communications rubbed his forehead as Blitzwing entered the Hangar “Well look who’s here; I thought you’d be chasing after Starscream shooting at him like the dog you say he is.” The irritated tank mocked, obtaining his share of Energon as the blue Decepticon quietly stared at the disturbance, making him feel nervous.   
“What? Are you going to deny me my share now for saying that?” Blitzwing growled. Soundwave said nothing and continued writing on his notepad, thinking to himself that what he was feeling was irrational.   
Blitzwing began drinking his Energon, still determined to get Soundwave to talk “You know what Soundwave, the Constructicons might like the new you but I don’t. Don’t you care about what this rivalry is doing to the Decepticons?” the triple-changing tank belched, causing Soundwave to squint in disgust before continuing his writing “Don’t you care about what this rivalry is doing to Solar?” Blitzwing muttered and observed Soundwave clench the electric pen that bit too hard, causing it to snap in half.   
So Blitzwing did crack the shell of silence, even without words that little gesture he got alone was enough to show that somewhere inside the mighty Soundwave was someone who did care “I...I left him...” Soundwaves eyes widened as he realised why he felt the need to be somewhere else, and why he thought he could hear Solarflare crying within the back of his mind.   
The Chief of Communications dropped his notepad before turning to leave when Blitzwing finished his Energon and tossed the empty cube aside, before approaching Soundwave “Don’t go just yet, Megatron’s in there.” He announced calmly, stopping Soundwave in his tracks “I know how badly you want to go and do something about it, but Starscream isn’t here to help you—” Blitzwing was cut short by Soundwave turning on him with one of his vicious stares “—I don’t need his help.” The blue Decepticon growled, attempting to leave once again “Wait Soundwave, hear me out. I’m technically a ‘brother’ to Solarflare here; I’m just as angry with what Megatron is doing as you are.” Blitzwing sighed with relief as Soundwave stopped again, this time showing no signs of answering back “Soundwave, I have an idea that could not only save the Decepticons, but Solarflare from the fate Megatron has planned for him.” Blitzwing sneaked an extra Energon Cube whilst Soundwaves back was still turned, and was relieved to hear the somewhat stoic Decepticon answer _“I’m listening.”_   
The triple-changer chuckled and sat down on a nearby crate and began drinking his second cube, watching as Soundwave just remained totally motionless “Here’s my idea: you hook up with Solar, get Hatchlings from him, but ensure Megatron doesn’t know about it. Fake injuries if you have to, just so it looks like you’re unable to engage in Fusion. You already know that Megatron won’t be successful so long as your produce is still there, Solarflare would only accept the ones he wanted.” Blitzwing began, but continued when he noticed Soundwave was becoming interested “So once you have your hatchlings, hide them somewhere Megatron would never look. Then persuade Starscream into sharing Solarflare with you.” Soundwave lost interest immediately upon hearing that proposition “Starscream would never share, and that means I won’t either.” Soundwave growled. Blitzwing placed his half-empty Energon aside and leaned over to look at his feet “You have to learn to share with him, it’s the only way you both can defeat Megatron.” Soundwave folded his arms and twitched in irritation as Blitzwing continued to point out the reasons why a Union had to be made between the two “Solar cares about you both equally, he has no favourite. He just wants Megatron out of his life and his Fusion Cavity, and the only way to do that is to fight him off for the rights to keep Solarflare yours. But we’ve seen what happens when either of you try to take him on alone.” Soundwave clenched his fists, before throwing one of them against the doors in a fit of rage “Starscream would stab me in the back given the chance! Your plan is absurd, so I shall deny using it!” the enraged Decepticon roared, not even causing the slightest bit of fear to shine in Blitzwing who remained calm with a very serious look in his eyes “It’s the only way. You’ll have to lie to both Megatron and Starscream if you can’t get that Seeker to cooperate. When your Hatchlings are hidden, just say you killed them because they weren’t yours. That will force Starscream into conceiving Solarflare, which means he’ll be both of yours.” Blitzwing smirked “Or you can offer him the thing he’s wanted ever since joining the Decepticons, in exchange for him assisting you.” Soundwave lowered his arms and gazed around him, thinking the suggested plan over one more time in his head.   
It was true that if Starscream was fighting alongside him rather than against him that Megatron would be overpowered by their unity, but there were so many holes for things to go wrong in. Starscream was a treacherous snake; he’d slither his way into getting what he wanted even if that meant stepping on a few individuals along the way.   
Lying to Starscream would probably be the best option to begin with, and explaining everything to him once both of them had become fathers would force that jet to tie the knot without him turning on his teammate later. But Soundwave wasn’t so sure of them sharing Solarflare quite as happily as Blitzwing was expecting them to; both would have their young, their futures for Cybertron, happily. But sharing the SparkMate, and possibly the Decepticon Leader title, was going to be the real problem.   
Soundwave didn’t care about getting the title of Leader, he’d gladly let Starscream have it knowing the jet would get himself killed through his childishness. But offering Starscream the Leadership over his SparkMate was going to need a heavy amount of bonuses; the old method would be to tell Starscream he could find another Decepticon to be with, but the new method would be to just tell Starscream being Leader would take up all his free time.   
“I know what you’re thinking, Soundwave. Even if you both wound up becoming Solarflares Life Mates, Starscream would still want Solarflare to himself. You have several options in dealing with that problem.” Blitzwing began as Soundwave turned to face him, asking coldly _“Explain.”_   Blitzwing finished his second Energon cube and stood up, flexing his joints “Idea one; convince Starscream that being Leader of the Decepticons will require his full attention.” Soundwave had already thought of that one “Idea two; Let Starscream do what he wants, knowing his carelessness he’ll end up getting killed as Leader.” Again, Soundwave had already thought of that “Idea three; sever his Uplink Cable, that should kill his Fusion Drive.” As effective as that method would be, Soundwave couldn’t help but cringe at the idea of mutilating Starscream like that. Such a method was more of Megatrons style than his.   
“Idea four; force him into submission, and if he as much as attempts to kill you, punish him with humiliation.” That idea sounded the best to Soundwave, not only would they both still be Solarflares but Soundwave would literally be the top Decepticon in the relationship. Starscream would most likely still be Decepticon Leader, but he’d end up taking advice from Soundwave before doing something reckless.   
“I accept idea four.” He answered, shaking Blitzwings hand “Help me get the ball rolling, and I’ll see to it you advance in rank.” Blitzwing chuckled and opened the Hangar doors “I don’t care about rank, I just want my ‘brothers’ to be happy, and for the Decepticons to pull themselves out of this mess.” He laughed, taking his leave. Soundwave took the chance now to head over to Hangar one, to stop Megatron and begin his and Blitzwings new plan.   
_  
“M-MEGATRON!!”_ Solarflare cried under the weight of his partner, Energon still seeping from his tightly shut eyes.   
The tyrant laughed bitterly as he continued to force his captive into taking his load, with the flow never seeming to end, keeping a tight grip on Solarflares hips. The triple-changer screamed in agony as his partner squeezed his hips, forcing his storage tanks to pump out more content to fuse with, to break his little attempts at trying to hold back all his bodily expulsions.   
Along with his Nano-bot releases, Solarflare leaked oil from his fuel line, Energon from his mouth and eyes, and even started leaking around his Plug from the pressure.   
“Again, Hellhound.” Megatron chuckled, grasping the back of Solarflares helmet, pulling his head from the desk to face the wall. The Decepticon Leader released his grip from the scientists’ hips, and keeping a tight grip on his helmet Megatron trailed his fingers into Solarflares gaping mouth, stroking his tongue teasingly.   
The triple-changer would have resisted such a violation of his body, but he was so entranced in orgasm that every motion done to him just increased his arousal further, preventing him from resisting his partners advances.   
“*moan* Mega...*moan* Megatron—!!!” the Triple-changer panted heavily, his words muffled by the invasion of his mouth by Megatrons fingers. Said Decepticon smirked in delight as he heard Solarflare cry for him to stop, and just resumed to violate his captives body by all forms necessary to keep him in the this stage.   
Solarflare gasped and slapped his left hand against his abdomen, screaming in pain, as Megatron seeped his Sinus Wires directly inside his Fusion Cavity “PRIMUS!!*moan*” Solarflare arched himself backwards freeing his mouth of Megatrons fingers, only to have his chest grasped by the tyrant who took advantage of this new position “That’s a good _girl_...beg for your _master_...” Megatron hummed, slipping his tongue into Solarflares Docking Ports and up the back of his helmet.   
Solarflare felt himself be lowered onto his knees; finally being removed from the desk, with Megatrons lap between his legs, the scientist moaned as his master fondled with his torso and took him on the floor.   
The tyrant heard the doors to the hangar slowly open, and slapped a hand over his captives mouth to quieten his moaning “Megatron, I challenge you to combat.” Soundwave growled, stepping through the doors to witness the hacking of his SparkMate. The challenged Megatron smirked, removing his hand from his captives’ mouth to allow the sounds to continue in hopes that Soundwave would be appeased by them. Instead, all he got was a warning shot from Soundwaves blaster, which sent Solarflare into a panic and caused Megatron to release him “Very well, Soundwave. I accept your futile challenge.”   
The Tyrant casually released his Sinus wires from Solarflare tubes, and threw him onto the floor like a discarded cloth, before retrieving his Fusion Cannon and walking outside “The Runway, we don’t want _my_ breeder to be damaged now, do we?” Megatron laughed.   
Soundwave turned to observe Solarflare, who was crawling into a corner on his belly in tears, and narrowed his eyes in anger before heading outside to fight.   
“You’re abusive, Megatron. It’s time to end Solarflares suffering by ending your life.” The Chief of Communications huffed, preparing his gun for fire. Megatron laughed and aimed his Fusion Cannon at Soundwave, faintly uttering the words _“She does not suffer, she enjoys It”_ before opening fire, narrowly missing a clean shot on Soundwaves head. The blue Decepticon retaliated with a rapid fire on Megatron, causing him to take minor damage, before being hit through the chest by the tyrants Fusion Cannon and knocked down “You may be smart, Soundwave, but compared to me you are inferior.” Megatron mocked, preparing to finish off his challenger “At least Soundwave isn’t a monster!” cried a familiar voice.   
The owner of the voice tackled Megatron from behind and grappled him, tossing him to the floor before transforming into his tank mode and shooting rapidly at his target; Blitzwing had returned to assist Soundwave just this once.   
“Curse you, Blitzwing!! I’ll have your head for this!” Megatron growled, shooting the tank with so much force that it was knocked over. Soundwave began returning fire even in his badly injured state, which forced Megatron to retreat “I’ll be back, Soundwave! You should go repair yourself whilst you still have the chance!” the tyrant boomed, heading back to Base for repairs.  
The Chief of Communications dropped his weapon when his rival had left sight, and covered his wound trembling in pain. “Soundwave, where’s Solarflare?” Blitzwing asked as he transformed back to robot mode. The blue Decepticon struggled to get to his feet, and stumbled back to his knees with the first few attempts, before turning back to Hangar one and entering with a limp.   
Blitzwing followed but dared not assist Soundwave who would likely feel humiliated if seen needing help, and upon entering Hangar one the duo found Solarflare hiding under his desk covering his abdomen in tears.   
“Megatron has planted...” Soundwave said weakly, leaning against the wall as he made his way to Solarflare, Blitzwing approached his ‘brother’ and tried to entice him to come out from under the desk but failed.   
“Soundwave, we should tell Solarflare about our plan. That might make him feel better.” Blitzwing suggested, looking to the Communications Expert for approval. All he managed to get from the Decepticon however was a groan, which didn’t mean anything to him as a response “Soundwave, I’m not staying here. As soon as Astrotrain is ready to ship out the next load of Energon I’m going with him. I need you to make sure Solarflare is safe and that the plan goes well.” The triple-changer announced, standing upright and facing the doors “So tell me what you told Astrotrain those many weeks ago. Tell me now.”   
The Communications Expert looked to his feet and then to Solarflare, who was still under the desk petrified from his experience, before returning his glance to Blitzwing “He’s in good hands...both of ours. Megatron will perish.” Soundwave answered weakly, which brought a smile to Blitzwings face “Then I’ll leave you two alone to work things out. I’d help repair you Soundwave but I think Megatron is already pissed with me for that little grapple I did back there.” The triple-changer replied, heading towards the doors and waving as he left, faintly calling back that he’d see them when everything returns to normal.   
Soundwave allowed himself to slide against the wall to the floor, still covering his wound and leaking Energon onto the floor. Solarflare came out from his hiding place and hauled down some repair tools, and immediately began fixing Soundwave “Soundwave...help me...” Solarflare sniffled as he worked, watching as his SparkMate weakly looked into his eyes.   
The scientist trembled upon hearing something fall to the floor and began to panic, when Soundwave reached up and pulled his SparkMate into a hug “I’ll help you, Flare. Listen to our plan...and then just tell me what to do.” He answered softly, before allowing his SparkMate to finish the repairs.


	5. Unforgiven -part 2-

Whilst Soundwave and Solarflare where on the Sky Platform above the Decepticon Base, and the tyrant Megatron within the undersea base itself, Starscream had found himself in the middle of nowhere at some power plant.... He had no idea where he was exactly as he just followed the wind to reach a source of Energy and repair materials; luckily for him this Power Plant had pathetic security and he easily hooked himself up to a generator and began refuelling.   
As he began to recharge, Starscream threw himself onto the floor sighing heavily, and began repairing himself.   
“It’s a Decepticon! Someone call the Autobots!!” a human cried out as Starscream started welding pieces of metal he’d taken from the foundation walls to his legs; the Seeker scowled as the Humans began throwing objects at him, stopping repairs momentarily to use his fists as warnings to the pesky mammals that he would squash them if they didn’t leave him.   
The humans scattered like rodents with each slam of the Decepticons fist, and eventually left him to continue repair work. “Stupid creatures, they wouldn’t even make decent pets.” Starscream muttered, continuing to weld the metal to the tears in his legs. For a moment Starscream ceased his repairs and stroked his repaired legs, smirking deviously as he remembered what Solarflares legs felt like under his touch.   
Oh how he hoped the fighting would stop soon; as the routine of Fusing, getting his produce killed and then being beaten up just for the process to start again was starting to make him frustrated. Not just frustrated in his failures in combat and the whole cycle thing, but he was also sexually frustrated. The time he spent with Solarflare was so little in comparison to his rivals due to Megatron always showing up at ‘the wrong time’, and Soundwave always teased Starscream with how ‘superior he was’ in comparing Settings and their reproductive equipment.   
Sure he may have been small when it came to his mating tools, but he was more effective than Soundwave was suggesting. Just the sheer thought of how close he gets to closing the gap between himself and the other rivals, then failing horribly, made Starscream twitch in anger; he wanted release, but now was not the time or place for it. Repairs had to be done before he could so much as try attempting it, which reminded him to carry on with them before some Autobot decides to show itself and pick a fight.   
“Stupid Megatron...stupid Autobots...stupid Planet...” Starscream muttered as he finished his repairs.   
_“Good, just need to finish recharging now.”_  Starscream thought, relaxing against the generator he had hooked himself up to, closing his eyes and feeling the machine hum against his back. The Seeker felt comforted by the machines sounds and pulses, which seemed to mimic Solarflares generator. He exhaled as he felt his Sinus Wires tingle within him, begging to be used, as just the thought of Solarflare alongside how similar the generator hummed stimulated Starscream into Seeking Fusion. But he couldn’t go anywhere until he was charged; so the frustration just sat, building up within him. _“This isn’t fair.”_ Starscream thought placing his hand on his Abdomen, patting it as if trying to sooth his tension, but all the contact did was cause him to seek release even more.   
And eventually he gave in to his instincts; the Seeker ejected his Uplink Cable and opened his Fusion Cavity, and allowed his Sinus Wires to latch into his Uplink Cable, forcing the Stub open. The instant the wires connected to each other Starscream moaned, resting his head against the generator and closing his eyes as he fondled with his Uplink Cable in the same manner he would with Solarflares. If the humans where still around he would have had to just fight the instinct to release himself, as being caught doing such a thing would be humiliating, but thankfully the entire area was deserted due to his presence.   
The desertion gave Starscream the freedom to moan as he pleased, and fondle his Cable as it remained locked against his Fusion Cavity _“I shouldn’t have to do this shit...”_ Starscream thought removing his Uplink Cable from his Sinus wires, gasping as he finally released his frustration and Nano-Bots over himself. But he was not done just yet; he had to finish himself off, otherwise the frustration would come back again like a throbbing toothache, or bad Energon churning in his processor, since a Seeker is often called a ‘repeater’ for various…reasons.   
Starscream reconnected his Uplink Cable to his Sinus Wires and moaned again, sliding down the generator and onto his back, quickly reaching orgasm as he intensified the Uplink Cables desire to search for the non-existing Data within his Cavity. All the while thinking of Solarflare, and the time he spent with him both as a friend and recently a lover.   
Starscream jolted his Uplink Cable against his Cavity to simulate the female Sinus Tubes, and moaned as he increased the jolting speed. The Seeker closed his eyes and spread his legs apart, still moaning, as he forced his load out and down between his thighs _“Next time Megatron shows up, don’t stop...”_ he thought as he let out a sharp groan, jolting the last of this ‘meld’ of Nano-Bots from his wires.   
The sticky mess between his thighs sent shivers down the Seekers spinal column,  and he couldn’t resist the temptation in seeing how much was built up to cause that frustration. He flat browed in slight disappointment upon seeing very little of the grey matter between his legs, until noticing a majority of his produce was stuck on his thighs and not the floor.   
The Seeker lightly scooped a trail of the meld and fiddled with it in his fingers, bemused with the substance. He thought to himself for a moment how much the Transformer race had evolved to get to this point, being able to produce their own offspring without building with their hands or tools. Their bodies could do it for them now, using this thick substance.   
Was it a liquid or just a soft solid, the ex-scientist wondered, narrowing his eyes as he licked the meld from his fingers gently. _“Tastes strange...”_ he thought, letting his arms rest against the floor, satisfied with how he felt. However his Uplink Cable and Sinus Wires were still connected and the Cable was covered in his mess, and the seekers cheeks flushed pink as he felt the Neuron Wires caress his Sinus Wires as if tempting him to continue. Starscream didn’t know what else to do now; he still had to finish charging.   
Fuelled with lust, Starscreams blush glowed and he decided to continue his Self-Maintenance on the floor, grunting as he forced himself to keep going even though he’d already taken that load of frustration out. The seeker panted as he grasped his Uplink Cable again and jolted it, then trailing his free hand from his mouth to also hold his Uplink Cable began using both hands to jolt the two wire types together _“Why couldn’t this be with you?”_ Starscream thought as he began thrusting his abdomen against his Uplink Cable, heightening his arousal to its peak.   
Gasping, Starscream fondled with his cable with one hand and began grasping his chest with the other to keep his breathing under control; the same could not be said for his Cavity, which was beginning to lose control and run on instinctive drive, believing Fusion was really taking place. The Seeker removed his Uplink Cable and closed the Stub, before placing it into his mouth and began sucking, moaning with the suction and slowly seeping his produce from his Sinus Wires _“Tastes like you do...”_ the Seeker thought as he continued to lick and suck on his own Uploading Device, stroking his stomach with his other hand as he began spilling his ‘juice’ as he liked to call it between his thighs “Ugh...Flare...” he moaned, releasing his grip on his cable and focusing his hands on his Sinus Wires, assisting with pushing out his load “I’m...ugh...” the Seeker moaned softly, finish himself off “Take it...ugh...like a Decepticon...” he groaned as the last of that load flowed out and down his crotch “Now that’s just sad.” said a voice, causing Starscream to stop pleasuring himself and sever his connection to both the generator and himself.   
Caught in the act of Self-Maintenance was humiliating enough, but being caught by Autobots was worse “I didn’t think a Decepticon would stoop that low, hahaha.” Laughed Gears as Starscream got to his feet and clenched his fists; the Seeker was still weapon-less, and was only fit to fight hand-to-hand. But it seemed the Autobots were more happy mocking him than fighting him, which would count as both lucky for there being no damage physically, but also unlucky for damaging his reputation and pride.   
Because he had just released himself twice, Starscreams knees began to shake, and he struggled to stand upright. “Actually, I’m not surprised to see Starscream doing it. He always seemed the type to engage in Self-Maintenance. After all, he is a **jerk**.” Jazz laughed, Ironhide folded his arms and stepped forwards, aiming his guns at Starscream “Come on _little_ man, you’ve got no weapons or backup so it’s time to cut this meeting _short_.” Even Ironhide was making fun of how small Starscreams mating tools were, which made him snarl at the Autobots viciously “Enough!! I’m not going anywhere but back to the others, after all I can fly!” Starscream screeched, turning into jet-mode and bolting out of the Power Plant easily avoiding the Autobots fire “Geez he’s like some Teenbot going through puberty.” Ironhide muttered.   
“Wait until the others hear about this, Starscream will be too embarrassed to show his face around us for a long time!” Jazz laughed, Gears chuckled before complaining about the mess Starscream left behind, and how he wasn’t going to be the one to clean it up “Not even the Earth equipment would take any of his loads. Hahaha.” Ironhide laughed as Jazz checked on the Generator, narrowly avoiding the Starscream mess “Wonder why Starscream was here on his own.” Jazz asked, examining the Generator and finding no damage “Awww damn, that’s nasty!” Jazz cringed as the tip of his foot stood in the mess.   
Ironhide and Gears laughed as Jazz slipped and fell into the puddle “Agh! This is disgusting man, I feel it _moving_...” he whined, before being hosed down by Inferno who had only just arrived “What was moving? I just saw Jazz caked in Lubricant.” Inferno questioned as Red Alert stalked through the hole in the wall Starscream had made to enter and exit the Power Plant “Inferno you moron, that wasn’t Lubricant.” Gears complained, pointing to what little remained of the puddle “Yeah you two! I was caked in Starscream funk juice! Lubricant doesn’t come out of the Fusion Cavity and doesn’t feel like it _moves_!” Jazz whined.   
Red Alert gawked and approached the remains of the mess “You mean he was trying to Fuse with you?!” Jazz face-palmed as a response “No Red, we caught him blue-handed doing self-maintenance. Jazz just slipped and fell into the remains.” Ironhide answered folding his arms. Red Alert cringed and rushed over to Inferno, whispering to him about something, before transforming and leaving the scene “What was that all about?” Gears asked, Inferno rubbed the back of his head and waved the tiny Autobot over, whispering to him before transforming and following Red Alert. Gears pouted upon Inferno taking his leave and turned to his comrades “Inferno said that Red Alert said that Perceptor could use some of _that stuff_ to explain Fusion to Bumblebee and the humans...” Ironhide face-palmed as Gears transformed “I’m not touching that stuff, so you guys can do it.” He whined before taking his leave; Ironhide turns to Jazz and searches his compartments until finding a cup-like device and handing it to the wet Autobot “Either you take the sample, or make a sample Mister Paranoid. Honestly, solder doesn’t move.” He chuckled as Jazz received ‘the cup’ and looked back at Ironhide in disgust “The solder didn’t move it was what was in the solder that I felt moving...” Jazz whined, before having his face pointed to the puddle “Don’t complain, just get a sample or make a sample and meet us back at base.” Ironhide answered before transforming and heading off back to base, leaving Jazz to do the clean-up and the dirty work.  
  
“It’s one thing calling it a secret, and another calling it a lie.” Solarflare muttered with a shred of sympathy in his voice as he allowed his partner to roll aside and clean himself off “I can’t lie to Starscream. It would be far worse if he found out about it later rather than now.” Soundwave flexed his joints and turned to face his SparkMate, pulling out a seat and patting it to tempt him over.   
The Hermaphrodite removed himself from the floor and strolled over to the seat, groaning as he allowed himself to fall into it “He won’t listen to me, you know what.” Soundwave answered softly as he massaged the Triple-Changers shoulders, who in return allowed his head to rest against his protectors’ arms.   
“How will you convince Megatron that nothing happened in here?” he asked, closing his eyes as his partner soothed his tension “Don’t worry about Megatron, just you focus on that story for Starscream.” The jet sighed heavily and placed one of his hands on Soundwaves, looking awfully unsure over the plan Soundwave told him as they fused moments ago.   
“Flare, I know it will be the most difficult thing to do, but you must do it.” Soundwave informed, leaning down to his partner and kissing him lightly on the cheek before reforming his Faceplate “I know Wave...it’s just how long would I be able to keep it up that worries me...”  
  
Unaware of what had recently passed, Starscream continued on his way back to Base now fully repaired and less frustrated than when he left “So much for the two rivals...” Starscream thought as he landed on the Runway unopposed, a smug grin on his face as he ensured he was in tip-top condition before heading towards Hangar one “Flare, I’m back...” the Seeker purred as he stuck his head into the quiet Hangar, instantly noticing his SparkMate repairing Soundwave in the middle of the room “Oh, hey Starscream. Looks like you’re all fixed now.” Solarflare chuckled, patting Soundwave on the chest “You’re all better now Wave, thanks for helping me out of that mess...it’s a shame you had to get shot.”   
Starscream narrowed his eyes and approached the table, circling Soundwave like a blood-thirsty hawk for something, before turning his attention to his SparkMate “You called me by my full name...but not Soundwave...” the jet narrowed his eyes, suspecting “Why is that, Flare? Did something happen whilst I was gone?” he asked in a bitter tone, keeping a cold stare on his SparkMate as Soundwave removed himself from the table and dusted himself off “Starscream; Megatron invaded Solarflares personal space, I fought him off to keep him from—”   
“—I don’t want to hear you talk, Slimeball. Flare will answer my questions, not you.” Starscream snapped, turning on Soundwave in an instant with his cold stare “...Megatron nearly hacked Solarflare.” Soundwave informed, sounding rather displeased “Nearly, but let me guess...I scared him off.”   
The Seekers arrogance was starting to surface, for their failure was his success in his book, and if Megatron failed at anything he wanted to reap whatever benefits came from them.   
Starscream turned to Solarflare when his rival face-palmed, muttering something along the lines of _‘asshole’_ before leaving without so much as putting up a fight. His rival just openly deciding to walk right out of the room without even lifting his fists left the suspicions sitting, and only one Decepticon could confirm or deny those suspicions with accuracy, for he knew that his SparkMate would never lie to him; not even in dire circumstances.   
However today was going to be the start of a long chain of his trust being misplaced, bonds being under threat and the fiery fate which lay at the end of the tunnel for the Decepticons.  
Once Starscream was certain Soundwave had left the Seeker knelt to his SparkMate and touched his partners abdomen lovingly, still looking unsure of if his suspicions where right or wrong. Now was the time for the test; Solarflare had to either lie to protect the brewing young, tell the truth or somehow convince Starscream into taking him later.   
Luckily the Seeker broke his partners’ uneasiness by smiling softly at him, stroking his SparkMates abdomen gently “Did Megatron do anything to you? Did he hurt you?” he asked quietly, still on his knees “No, Wave...Soundwave...showed up and fought him before he could do anything.” _Lie number one;_ the Triple Changer couldn’t help but think to himself how long he would be able to keep up the lies, so he counted. He counted each little fib, and every great lie to see just how much trust he was breaking. And the thought was painful; very, _very_ painful.  
“Did Soundwave do anything to you?” Starscream asked, placing his head against his partners’ abdomen as if listening to it “No. He was badly damaged in the fight; I spent all my spare time fixing him.” _Lie number two._   
Starscream hummed with joy, nuzzling his partners abdomen “Excellent...so you’re still mine?” This was it; the big push. The lie to end all lies, or end the trusting relationship the two shared.   
Solarflare placed a hand on Starscreams helmet and smiled softly as his partner came up to his level and wrapped him in a loving embrace “Yes Screamer, I’m still yours.” _Lie number three.  
 _ “And to make things better, Soundwave is more focused on getting Energon to Cybertron. He’ll rarely bother you.” Solarflare purred. _Lie number four._   
It seemed the Triple Changer was growing more confident with each new tall-tale he told his partner, and was no longer regretting the choice he had made. Soundwave wasn’t his favourite; both Starscream and Soundwave were. He wanted them both, not one or the other on their own. He wanted the full package; Soundwaves open-ear and gentleness with him, and Starscreams boldness to do anything for him and his deeply hidden playful personality. Megatron had nothing he wanted, and knew the tyrant would give him nothing in return for his young but more pain.  
“Today is better than I had previously expected...what say we celebrate?” the Seeker purred, nuzzling his partners neck “Screamer, you know the rules! No more Flare-time until the Hatchlings are all born. You don’t want to kill your own children do you?” the Triple Changer pulled himself from Starscream and turned to his Storage Cabinet, hauling out a box of tools to his desk as Starscream pouted “Of course, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for that now would I?” The Seeker muttered, strolling over to Solarflare to observe what he was doing, only to be pushed backwards slightly after hovering a bit too close to his SparkMate for his own liking “Not too close Screamer, I need my space now.” The scientist began with a chuckle “Oh and you need to do me a favour, now that I’m carrying for you.”   
The instant the Commander heard a favour was needed _now,_ after supposedly planting in Solarflare, sent him into a rather awkward position “I...I didn’t know this would have strings attached...” Starscream cringed, causing his rather pleased SparkMate into a giggling fit “Any partner would expect this of you, not just me.” The scientist began, hauling out a wrench before tossing it to Starscream who caught it meekly “W-what do you want me to do?” the Seeker asked, eyeing Solarflare who turned around revealing a box full of hooks “Help me build the storage for _our_ babies, dear.”


	6. Unforgiven -part 3-

Days had turned to weeks within almost the blink of an eye to the three rivals, and weeks turned to months within a single breath. Two of them remained none the wiser over Soundwaves little plan, and as for the prize they fought so desperately for; he was expecting any day now.   
The fights continued, but Starscream remained confident that he would remain the parent of the unborn Hatchlings and future Life Mate of Solarflare. Megatron shared the same confidence, and instead of hawking Solarflare to force him into conceiving the tyrant simply kept his eye on his rivals to ensure they didn’t set foot within Hangar One.   
Starscream still lost the one on one fights against Megatron, and repaired himself as always, but he did not fear having his mate stolen from him now. As he had observed Megatron changing in the daily activities he did; no longer was he stalking Solarflare, no longer was he chasing him and Soundwave to assert his dominance, he wasn’t even talking to the triple-Changer anymore. He just _watched_ with silence at where Decepticons went and what they touched, and only ever picked a fight when he deemed the way a Decepticon touched Solarflare to be inappropriate.   
“Things seemed to have quietened down a bit since we left; maybe it’s a sign we should have stayed on the Moon?” Scavenger sighed, unpacking the last of the new tools they brought back from the Moon Base “It wasn’t us, it was them. It seems someone got what they wanted, and the other two don’t care anymore.” Hook whined putting his feet up on the desk he was sat by.   
Scrapper sighed and approached, dropping a box of blueprints into the Constructicons lap, causing him to fall out of the seat “Does anyone know who the manufacturer is?” Bonecrusher questioned, hanging up the last of the spare wings on the wall.   
Scrapper twitched and folded his arms, kicking the desk Hook was resting on “Wow Scrapper, you’re in a sour mood. Did a rock get lodged in your gears?” called a voice in the doorway “No. I want to give Solarflare an examination, to make sure he’s still healthy...but Megatron won’t even let me inside the Hangar.” Scrapper answered, lowering his arms as Starscream entered the room with more boxes of the Constructicons equipment “Well I’m his SparkMate, so I’ll let you give him an examination.” The Seeker proudly announced, dropping the box onto Hook who was still on the floor “Vector Sigma, am I invisible or something?!” Hook whined, pushing the boxes from him.   
“No, you’re just lazy. Get to unpacking the equipment and filing the blueprints, **now**.” Scrapper growled before turning to Starscream “If you are the manufacturer, I request to examine your SparkMate and the young, just to be on the safe side.” Scrapper asked.   
Starscream shone a smug grin, and swayed his hips before turning to leave through the door “Certainly Scrapper. Come and see Solarflare and our _amazing_ offspring.” Scrapper face-palmed as the Seeker left, and slowly followed him muttering to Scavenger on his way out that he finds it hard to believe Starscream really is the manufacturer.  
  
Outside, Starscream and Scrapper approached Hangar One to find Megatron still sat outside the doors, twitching from the lack of Energon. He had ordered Thundercracker to bring Energon to Solarflare, who was heavily pregnant and unable to charge himself up outside, but the tyrant never accepted Energon given to himself by anyone. He was always suspecting that someone at some point would try knocking him out, and entering the Hangar to kill the unborn.   
He hadn’t slept, hadn’t drunk any Energon and hadn’t even left the seat he was now sat upon for three whole weeks. Megatron was on his last legs, and looked as if he could pass out at any moment.   
His senses remained vigilant even in this sorry state; catching the sight of Starscream and Scrapper instantly “Do you have a death wish, Starscream?” Megatron groaned, getting to his feet weakly and failing to lift his arms to put up a defence against Starscreams assault of a few quick kicks “No, Megatron, I only wish to see my SparkMate.” The Seeker laughed as the Decepticon Leader crashed to the floor, and struggled to even lift himself back up.   
Scrapper glanced down at Megatron and examined him before being nudged by Starscream into following him “You’re supposed to examine my SparkMate, not that sack of garbage.” The Seeker mocked, kicking Megatron in the side before opening the hangar doors and entering, Scrapper trailing behind him.   
Inside the Hangar Starscream instantly smelt his SparkMate, even within the pitch black surroundings, and had to fight the urge to rush him for affection. “That smell is so...powerful...” Starscream exhaled loudly, slamming his fist against his Fusion Cavity to douse his stimulation “It’s the Chemicals through pregnancy; it should go away when he delivers.” Scrapper whispered, turning on a flashlight “Why are you whispering? There’s no need for that flashlight either, I’ll put the lights on—”    
Scrapper stopped Starscream from searching for the light switch and placed a finger on his faceplate, ‘shushing’ him, before pointing to the corner of the room where Solarflare laid asleep.   
Starscream scratched his helmet as Scrapper approached his sleeping SparkMate, hovering over the Constructicons shoulders watching him closely.   
Scrapper knelt down to Solarflare and dimmed his lights to avoid disturbing the sleeping scientist, before ‘switching’ his hands to specially protected ones, which alarmed Starscream immediately “What are you planning on doing, Scrapper?” the Seeker growled, before being hushed again by the green Decepticon “I’m examining your SparkMate, the protection is for his young, not me.” Scrapper whispered “And if you want your mate to pull through this healthy and happy, you’ll keep your voice down and let me do my job.”   
The Commander pouted, folding his arms but maintaining silence for the sake of keeping Solarflare calm and undisturbed.  
Scrapper then began the examination; starting first with Solarflares optics and mouth, finding no abnormalities he moved onto examining the snoozing scientists Generator and Uplink Cable. Once again, he found no abnormalities. Starscream was growing concerned at Scrappers silence as he examined his SparkMate, unsure of if the quiet nature meant things were good or if they were bad. Finally the Constructicon opened Solarflares Fusion Cavity doors, forcing Starscream to stare much closer than Scrapper felt comfortable with “Starscream, relax. So far everything is normal.”   
The Seeker twitched and began pointing at the Fusion Cavity, then to Scrapper and finally to himself. The green Decepticon face-palmed before whispering to Starscream “I’m going to directly check the young, his cavity is dilated.” The jet didn’t understand, causing Scrapper to sigh. “It means he’ll go into labour any minute.” That seemed to hit the nail on the head; Starscream panicked, rushing around in the darkness with his hands on his head, trying with all his might to hold back his frantic screaming.   
Scrapper began examining the young through the dilated Fusion Cavity Plug, humming calmly before removing his hands and turning to Starscream “Alright Starscream, this is going to get messy. Bring a bucket, some paper towels; two Energon Cubes and that empty Storage Tank over there.” Starscream stopped panicking and stared at Scrapper “What? Why me?” the Seeker groaned at the Constructicon, who clicked his fingers several times before pointing at Solarflare, who was starting to wake up. “Oh...uh, ok I got it.” Starscream rushed to gather the Energon Cubes first from the storage hangar, narrowly missing standing on Megatron who was crawling his way to the storage to refuel.   
The Seeker stopped a moment and kicked the crawling Megatron in the side, laughing, before continuing to the hangar.  
Inside the Energon Hangar he franticly grabbed two Energon Cubes, turning to leave before bumping right into Soundwave “It’s not like you to try stealing four Energon Cubes in one day, Screamer.” Soundwave said bitterly, taking the cubes casually from the panicking Starscream “You’re an idiot! They were for Flare!” Soundwave handed the cubes to Astrotrain who began piling them into the share slots “I gave Solarflare Energon this morning, he seemed awfully tired and in a lot of pain.” Astrotrain announced, gaining a nod from Soundwave “Affirmative, I remember giving you the order to check on him. So Starscream your excuse is flawed.”   
The Commander pouted before grabbing two more cubes and attempting once more to flee with them; before being knocked down by Soundwave who for reasons unknown seemed much stronger than usual “You had your share this week, and even stole two more. You are not permitted in here until your next share.” Soundwave growled, folding his arms “Since he stole two cubes, you should deny him his share next week.” Astrotrain laughed, gaining a light chuckle from Soundwave followed by a much esteemed ‘high-five’.   
“You don’t understand you morons! I’m having babies!” the Seeker screeched, forcing Astrotrain to burst out laughing and Soundwave to once again chuckle “What next? Are you going to give Megatron Energon? Are you going to take it to the Autobots? Having babies...hahaha!” Astrotrain laughed.   
Starscream clenched his fists, gritting his teeth together into a snarl before pointing at Soundwave “Solarflare is going into labour with my babies! Give me the Energon or I’ll pry it from your cold dead hands!!” The Chief of Communications stopped laughing instantly, and stared at Starscream coldly “...he’s delivering this early?” he muttered, watching as Starscream grabbed two more cubes and left the hangar, tripping over Megatron on his way out “...you....clumsy oaf...” Megatron groaned, reaching for the dropped cubes with poor results “You two should stay here; I’m going to investigate this situation.” Soundwave announced, picking up the cubes and strolling down to Hangar One. Megatron dropped his face onto the floor and twitched from the Energon deprivation as Starscream jumped to his feet and tackled Soundwave before he could open the doors “No! I won’t let you kill my babies!” the Seeker screeched.  
Soundwave growled in irritation before pushing the now overly protective Seeker from his back, turning on him in an instant of recovering. Soundwave knew he was the manufacturer, or father, of the unborn and not Starscream; his huge boost in strength and shortened temper further solidified that fact. He was built up to protect his SparkMate and his young, and he was not shy to being asserting his position with a few beatings to those who dared question him...or denied his right to see his own young be born.   
Luckily for Starscream that Scrapper had opened the doors and dragged Soundwave inside whining that he’d take anyone’s help so long as they didn’t mind the mess; the luck was the end of the beating, not the fact that his supposed Hatchlings ‘enemy’ had been taken _inside_.   
Upon entering the Hangar himself he was greeted with Solarflare screaming in agony, with Soundwave kneeling beside him holding his hand as Scrapper attempted to assist Solarflare in delivering his young “Scrapper! What are you doing?! Soundwave will kill my babies!” Starscream whined as the Constructicon rubbed his face tiredly before being whispered to by Soundwave “Yeah about that Starscream, Soundwave won’t touch the young. He’ll just talk to Solarflare to keep him company.” Starscream wasn’t convinced, and approached Soundwave with his Null-Ray aimed at his rivals head “Starscream, do what you should be doing as a parent and help with this delivery!” Scrapper hissed, shoving a bucket into the jets arms before returning to Solarflares Fusion Cavity. Starscream narrowed his eyes at Soundwave, and gestured to the blue Decepticon that he was watching him.  
“Okay Solar, you need to let your Cavity open all the way.” Scrapper informed, sounding awfully professional. Solarflare groaned in agony and shook his head, causing Scrapper to face-palm and open his communications device “Hook, I need some assistance in Hangar One. We’ve got a bloated Triple Changer here who won’t follow instructions.” A loud shriek came down from the other end of the communications device, causing Scrapper to groan in annoyance “Let me put it bluntly then for you; Solarflare is in labour and won’t open his Fusion Cavity to let the young out. I need some tools.” Starscream turned to Scrapper and was tempted to ask what he was going to do, but it seemed the Constructicon knew exactly how to deliver, which perked the jets curiosity “Scrapper, I didn’t know you knew how to deliver...” the Seeker informed, catching a light chuckle from the green Decepticon “Well it’s not something I’ve been able to do for millions of years, I hope I still know how to continue this.” Soundwave stroked Solarflares hand and whispered to him as Scrapper returned his attention to the Triple-Changer.   
“Solar you _must_ open your cavity all the way, otherwise the pressure inside will destroy your generator and the young.” The jet shook his head franticly again, screaming. Did he not want the young after all? Or was it something else bothering him?   
“Scrapper, save our babies or I’ll turn you into Scrap.” Starscream growled before turning to Soundwave “You can get your rusty tailpipe out of here; you’re violating Flare’s space!” the Seekers rudeness was only greeted with him being thrown out of Hangar One by the powered-up Soundwave, crashing into the nervous Constructicons and several of Solarflares friends who were waiting for the news.   
“Has Solar had the young yet? Did he make lots of them? Is it a mess inside?” Astrotrain asked franticly, being answered by a firm slap across the face by the extremely pissed off Seeker “NO. Scrapper and tin-can for brains won’t even let me stay inside to see my own young! It sickens me!!”  
So Starscream, along with the other Decepticons, waited outside as Solarflare delivered. They cringed at the screams, paced around aimlessly from nerves, or whined about how long he was taking.   
Eventually Scrapper poked his head from the doors and exited covered in Energon using a towel to clean himself off; Starscream rushed to the green Decepticon and franticly asked if everything was alright, were the Constructicon chuckled as a response “Go see for yourself; Solarflare has successfully produced forty three Hatchlings. Although...uh...four others came out broken due to the prolonged pressure within the Cavity, they didn’t make it.” Scrapper informed, sounding unhappy when mentioning the last piece of information.   
Starscream along with several Decepticons flooded the doors knocking Scrapper over; to see Solarflare and Soundwave sorting the young into piles “Don’t touch my babies, Slimeball!!” Starscream hissed, rushing Soundwave and narrowly avoiding stepping on some of the young.   
“Both of you, GET OUT.” Solarflare roared, causing the duo to cower and crawl from the Hangar.   
The Triple-Changer then entered defensive mode, threatening to shoot anyone who dared enter the vicinity even to deliver him Energon, before locking himself inside his Hangar. Starscream whined at the doors, pleading Solarflare to allow him to help protect the young, but received no response.   
He thought for a moment that the carelessness he showed to pick a fight with Soundwave so close to the Hatchlings made Solarflare feel uneasy, and that the little blip would pass over the week.   
But it didn’t.   
  
Days turned into weeks, with no sign of the Triple-Changer ever leaving the Hangar. Starscream loitered outside every day in hopes that his SparkMate would open the doors and let him inside, but no matter how loud he shouted, no matter how much he pleaded, Solarflare would not let him inside.   
He began to suspect Solarflare was picking favourites, as Soundwave was at least permitted to hand him Energon directly at the door, but like everyone else he was not allowed inside. Even the trick of trying to give his SparkMate Energon before Soundwave resulted in a no-show, which left the Seeker feeling bitter.   
Even the mighty Megatron admitting he wasn’t foolish enough to set foot near that Hangar whilst Solarflare was being so protective, which left Starscream twitchy and seeking answers. But nothing came, no matter how long he waited.   
Eventually Solarflare began stockpiling the young into pods, after keeping himself out of sight for months. It was at this point that Starscream figured the red warning lights that sat above Solarflares head would die down, when Megatron arrived on the scene believing the same.   
“Megatron?! Don’t tell me you’ve come here to kill my babies!?” The Seeker hissed, preparing his Null-Ray for combat. The Tyrant laughed menacingly before aiming his Fusion Cannon at the jet “You couldn’t even make one of those blocks from the human game Tetris conceive for you, what makes you think the young are yours?” the Leader laughed again, tidying his aim before engaging in combat with his treacherous little snake “Solarflare did conceive for me! He said so!” the Seeker shrieked before returning to the combat at hand by firing rapidly at Megatron. It was at this point that both the rivals noticed Soundwave fleeing the scene in a hurry, as if trying to avoid the conflict “Soundwave has forfeited! It’s just you and me now Megatron!” Starscream growled, continuing his assault. The pair battled on the Runway brutally, with Starscream suffering various injuries to his wings, weapons and head after his helmet was knocked from him.   
The tyrant took advantage of Starscreams exposed head, and shot at him before he could protect himself with his helmet once again. Shards of metal burst from the floor caused by the shot, with many fragments piercing Starscreams frame and head, causing the Seeker to stumble from the shock and wearily continue fighting. Megatron resumed his assault until it came to Starscreams attention that if he failed in this fight, his young would perish (even though they’re not his, isn’t fate a cruel thing?)   
So the Seeker perked himself up and decided to toughen himself through the fight, delivering blows with his feet and fists due to his weapons failing on him from the damage they sustained. Megatron attempted to defend himself, but found the rival to be using everything he had with a lust for destruction in his eyes, which left the Tyrant thinking that the battle was pointless, causing him to retreat “This is a waste of time! I have more pressing matters to deal with than you and your childish delusions!” the Leader roared, sending himself skywards and down to the main base.   
Starscream smiled triumphantly, ecstatic with winning this fight, and attempted to turn to Hangar One when he heard Solarflare gasp in surprise behind him “Star---Starscream! What happened?!” the triple-Changer gawked, finding it difficult to keep his eyes on his heavily Damaged SparkMate "Flare, I have returned with victory! Megatron retreated and there is no sign of Soundwave anywhere! You and I can finally be together!" the scarred and weakened Starscream cheered, not making much effort to move as his injuries prevented him from doing such.   
His partner, on the other hand who was perfectly healthy, remained silent and tried with all his might not to make eye-contact. Starscream regained his composure and chuckled "Isn't that excellent news? First Soundwave took off for reasons unknown, then I beat Megatron, and that gave you plenty of time to stockpile the Hatchlings! We're finally on our way-" the Second in Command was cut short by a heavy "NO" from his SparkMate, who was still trying with great difficulty to not look into the Energon leaking eyes of Starscream.   
Said Seeker stepped forwards to reach Solarflare, but stopped mid-way when the scientist aimed his Null-Ray and screamed "NO, stay back!"   
Starscream narrowed his eyes in pity, before muttering _"What did I do now?"_ as his SparkMate began trembling, and uttered the words the Seeker dreaded hearing. "The Hatchlings...they're...they're not yours..." Solarflare cried, keeping his aim on the awe-struck Starscream "I'm so sorry, Screamer...so...so...sorry..." the Triple-Changer continued to mutter his apologies, as his heavily damaged partner continued to stare...steadily narrowing his eyes into a spark-piercing glare.  
"So that's why Soundwave left; to hide them from me...well, I guess there's one thing left for me to do now..." Solarflare gasped and rushed to Starscream, begging him to not do what he was thinking, but was too late to catch the jet as he had already taken leave to commence with his goal; the destruction of the lies, deceit and most important of all, the accursed young of his rival. _  
_  
The first batch of Hatchlings were easy to track down; Starscream just followed the same direction Soundwave took and landed in the spots he believed the Chief of Communications would have expected to be secure hiding spots, but oh was he going to be very wrong.  
Hiding the young inside a cave was the post predictable place to put them, as Starscream knew they’d need to hang from something in order to develop correctly. The Seeker chuckled as he found the cave to be unprotected, and proceeded with ripping the young from their holding places and crushing them with his bare hands.  
Any that fell from their spot from his brutality met their doom by the forced stomps of his feet, literally cracking the little shells open and exposing the developing young to the oxygen atmosphere, killing them.   
Starscream yanked, smashed, crushed and blasted the huge mound of young without remorse; a thirst for victory over Soundwave flowed through him, and all he focused on was seeing the wasted efforts of his rival on the floor. Not once did he think of the emotional distress this would cause Solarflare, not once did he imagine the pain the Triple-Changer would feel with every shell he crushed in his hands or under his feet. Victory was all that mattered right now.   
After the cave was empty Starscream moved onto the next spot; an abandoned mine. This was the most simple of tasks in eliminating the defenceless young within, as all he had to do was cause the mine to collapse, thereby crushing them all to death. So he did just that; he fired at the support beams of the mine, ensuring he worked from the inside and moved his way out, laughing as the entire structure collapsed “Oh Soundwave, you were so careless in hiding your young...you practically placed them in their coffins, waiting for me to nail them shut.”   
The Seeker moved on to the next location, following his inner demon to seek out and destroy the rest of the young. No matter where Soundwave had tried hiding them the bloodthirsty jet found them, be it in a cave, a mine, an abandoned warehouse or even underground. However Starscream couldn’t help but think that the first few batches of young he destroyed where purposely placed there to ensure a smaller percentage survived in the real secure locations.   
It wouldn’t surprise him to find out Soundwave had risked the lives of eighty percent of his young to ensure the remaining would survive. And so he pondered on where the remaining ten youngsters where hidden; he thought over and over again of the possible locations but crossed them from his mind when he realised he’d already been to the areas and swept them clean. So what else could he do? Get the information out of Solarflare, that’s what. But how would he force his own SparkMate into telling him where the last batch of young was hidden if he knew he’d been lied to about the young already? Had the lie to preserve Soundwaves children thrown Starscreams trust out of the window? The next test would be vital, if Solarflare made one error he would end up with two hawks seeking out his young and his Fusion Cavity like beasts instead of just one.   
The fact that Solarflare broke down when he saw his injuries made Starscream think of a plan to weed the information out.  
Starscream returned to the Sky Platform to find Soundwave comforting Solarflare, obviously reassuring him that he had hidden the young “Well who do we have here? The Slimeball...” the Seeker hissed, glaring at his foe “Telling Flare where you hid the young now? Did you tell him I followed you?” the words ‘followed’ caused Soundwave to twitch and draw his gun, preparing to fire on his rival as Solarflares eyes widened in fear for what he was soon to expect “...and I butchered every last one of them.” The Seeker rasped, cleaning off the remnants of Energon Matter from his hands.   
Soundwave stepped backwards in disbelief, fuelling with rage, as his SparkMate began to burst into tears. Starscream stretched his arms open as if seeking a hug, bathed in the moonlight causing him to appear shadowed and menacing “Come, Flare, we have a chance together now.” He hummed, tilting his head with a sly grin on his face “You—you MONSTER!!” Solarflare cried, aiming his Null-Ray at Starscream “Monster? I did what needed to be done to—”   
“—you killed defenceless children! _MY children_! And to think I was going to ask you to be the next father!!! How can I trust someone like you; who kills children without cause?!” Solarflare cried. Soundwave continued to twitch from rage, and shot Starscream the instant he decided to approach “I will enjoy vaporising you, Starscream!” the blue Decepticon growled, before being held back by Solarflare “No Wave, don’t stoop to his level!” the Triple-Changer hissed, turning to the Seeker with a snarl “Get out of here, I don’t want to see you ever again.” The triple-Changer added, until his Spark-piercing glare faded into a gawk of fear as Megatron landed within inches of Starscream, who hadn’t noticed the new arrival.   
“I didn’t kill them all...” Starscream began, a wave of relief briefly flowing through the two parents “...I came here hoping to get the remaining locations out of you two so I could finish the job tonight.” Megatron growled deeply, towering himself over Starscream from behind.   
The Seeker noticed the fear in Soundwave and Solarflares eyes and turned around just as Megatron forced him onto the floor, slamming his face into the metallic substance “So not only did you attempt killing me on the battlefield all these years, but now you’ve lowered yourself to petty animal behaviour?!” Megatron bellowed, hearing the Seeker beg for forgiveness before pressing Starscreams face against the floor with more pressure “You went against my prerogative! And destroyed what could have been my own offspring, and you beg for forgiveness?!”  the Seeker cowered and continued to beg, until feeling his Uplink Cable be ejected forcefully by Megatron “This is for your own good, and all other Cybertronians who so much as think you’re worthy to pass on!” the tyrant switched his free hand to a blade, and stretched his captives cable to full capacity. Solarflare gasped and attempted to hide his gaze by turning to Soundwave, only to be forced into watching by a heavy roar from Megatron.   
“You will _watch_. And you will learn what will happen to you if you so much as try attempting this stunt again!” Soundwave resisted the temptation to comfort his SparkMate, as he felt Megatrons furious glare turn on him the instant it became apparent Solarflare was becoming unhappy. Starscream struggled under Megatrons weight, and panicked at the silence. For within seconds of the silence he felt Megatrons blade slice through a large section of his Uplink Cable, narrowly avoiding it being totally severed.   
The Tyrant laughed in amusement as the Seeker flailed around screaming in agony, before losing consciousness after being smacked in the back of the head by the Decepticon Leader and being hauled away “Remember this lesson well, both of you. Starscream should consider himself lucky he’s just being exiled, and not being _killed_. You two will not be so lucky, am I clear?!” the tyrant roared, receiving very disturbed nods from the duo before taking his leave with Starscream over his shoulder.   
Now he had to dump the Seeker somewhere else, where he would be a problem to those other than him and his Decepticon Empire. And then the thought hit him; the Autobots. Starscreams nature and overall annoyances would make him perfect for ruining the Autobots, and he wouldn’t even need to ensure his ex-second in command survived should they meet in battle. He was expendable now, entirely useless.  
  
Unforgiven and totally worthless.


	7. The Results of Desperation

Alarms where the first thing that came to him; sharp jolting sounds that rattled the inside of his head. His wings weighty keeping him lied down on the table like lead, with no form of restraint to make it that way.   
_“He’s waking up.”_ A voice fuzzily said, as Starscream steadily opened his eyes to make out several blurry figures surrounding him _“And not moments too soon, find out what he wants and why they dropped him here. Prowl, stand guard and keep a close eye on him.”_ By the now clearing audio, Starscream could make out that voice easily as Optimus Primes’.   
What on Earth or Cybertron had happened to him on his way over here? The Seeker raised his hands and rubbed his temples to sooth his headache, and groaned as a bright light was shone into each of his eyes “Looks like he’s going to be alright now.” Ratchet said as he placed the torch aside and leaned over Starscream “How are you feeling big guy?” he asked in a childish tone, Prowl huffed and folded his arms “Ratchet, shouldn’t you and Wheeljack be asking why he was thrown out here?” the ‘law-enforcement’ Autobot suggested, leaving Wheeljack face-palming and cursing about why Prime left him with them.   
Starscream, ignoring pretty much everything, sat upright only to be laid back down by Ratchet “Whoa now, you just recovered from an operation! Stay down for a while until the sealant sets.” Starscream whined and attempted to get up again, until Perceptor arrived to assist Ratchet in keeping their patient laid down “I must say Starscream, you where lucky we could repair you let alone your Uplink Cable! If you agitate your limbs too much the sealant will likely cause irreversible damage! Please do as Ratchet says and stay on the table!” two words hit Starscream as the most important out of Perceptors little lecture; Uplink Cable.   
Not just any old Uplink Cable, but his own.   
When did it get damaged? And for that matter, how did he get so badly damaged in the first place? “Ok you three, stop with the lectures and get to interrogating him.” Prowl muttered, keeping one of his hands on his weapon “Prime didn’t say we should interrogate him right away, and because we’re the ‘doctors’ here, we say he’s not fit for interrogations yet. So quit flapping your mouth and telling us what to do!” Wheeljack snapped, Prowl muttered to himself about _“shooting Wheeljack up the tailpipe”_ if he didn’t shut up, as Starscream was still staring at the ceiling in disbelief.   
Perceptor leaned over Starscreams abdomen and began inspecting him in Microscope mode when he noticed the worried look on the Seekers face, along with Ratchet “Was it something we said?” Ratchet questioned, rubbing his helmet from confusion “Starscream looks like he’s seen a phantom or some other form of apparition. It is likely a side-effect of the sealant on his Uplink Cable—” Perceptor was cut-off when Starscream entered a panic, nearly knocking the Microscope-Autobot over as he sat upright and franticly patted the back of his helmet in search of his precious Uplink Cable.   
Ratchet reached for one of Starscreams arms as Prowl attempted to force the Seeker back onto the table, but both where knocked aside as the terrified Jet continued to search “Wheeljack, sedate him!” Perceptor cried out, tackling Starscream onto the table again just as the Seeker found what he wanted. He didn’t as much as attempt to force Perceptor and Ratchet from him; he was so relieved to know his cable was still there, that Wheeljack just shrugged at Perceptors order “I don’t think he needs to be.” Perceptor sighed and hauled himself off Starscream, along with leading Prowl away from the patient “All that fuss over a cable, very primitive...like a Decepticon.” Prowl growled, glaring at Starscream. He watched as Ratchet assisted the Jet up so he was sat upright, and twitched his hand as if seeking to grab his gun and shoot him back down, when Perceptor coughed to gain his attention.   
“I don’t think force will be necessary here, Prowl. Just leave the talking to us for you see, at one point in his life Starscream was just like us; a scientist.” The Enforcement Autobot growled and folded his arms, refusing to look at anyone “Jetfire won’t like this, not one bit.” Prowl huffed “You know what, I’m going outside. If I hear one of you scream I’ll come in here and plant lasers in his head.” He added, pointing at Starscream.   
The jet pulled out his cable and eyed Prowl as he left, muttering the words _“It’s not just a cable...”_ which seemed to catch Perceptors attention “Don’t mind him Starscream. When the Decepticons threw you outside the base and took off, he assumed they had planted a bomb inside of you. He’s only acting this way because he is still not convinced that there is no danger.” Ratchet approached Starscream from behind and placed a monitor against the back of the jets head, which projected an ‘x-ray’ of the interior to his head showing his brain.   
“Everything’s all better. We fixed your Uplink Cable and most of your other injuries without much problem; it was getting those fragments of metal out of your logic circuits that was the hard part.” Ratchet explained, observing under x-ray as Starscream retracted his Uplink Cable with Wheeljack taking quick observation over his shoulder “Remarkable. It’s almost exactly the same as Eclipse and Solarflares.”   
Starscream remained silent as the three Autobots spoke to each other about how amazing such a simple-looking device really was, as the Seeker began thinking through the details over and over again. Repeating, learning, correcting. There were questions he had to ask, but was unsure of who to directly ask them to. He wasn’t even sure if he should still be sat here casually, or if he should be fighting his way out back to the Decepticon Headquarters.   
Luckily for him that Wheeljack brought up a question that resolved one issue...but replaced it with another “So Starscream, why’d Megatron dump you over here if there weren’t any bombs or other kind of devices on you?” Starscream lowered his head and gritted his fangs together into a snarl, trembling in anger.   
Wheeljack asked again, only to be cut off mid-speech by Starscream clenching his fist and slamming it onto the table “...I don’t want to talk about that...” he growled, still trembling with rage.   
Perceptor placed his hand to his chin and began pondering, as Wheeljack shrugged Starscream off and began working on something else whilst cursing _“fine you whiny bitch, see if I care.”  
_ Ratchet clicked his fingers and ran outside, narrowly avoiding stepping on Bumblebees feet and Spike, as they entered and approached Perceptor “What’s gotten into Ratchet? Did something happen?” Bumblebee asked, Perceptor answered with a ‘huh?’ followed by a shrug before returning to his pondering.   
Spike approached the table Starscream was sat on, and looked up at the furious Jet “For a Decepticon that’s clearly very angry, you’re not doing anything to us.” Spike stated, Starscream simply snorted and looked away from Spike, which seemed to impress Perceptor “I understand now! It took a bit of thinking but now I know why you’re here!”   
Spike turned to face Perceptor who once again had transformed into his microscope mode and approached Starscream “Lay back down, if you would. I need to be certain.” He requested.   
“And why should I? I’ve got free will, I’m no Autobot—”   
Perceptor nudged Starscream into lying back down “You’re also not a Decepticon either. Megatron removed your insignias. This, however, should tell me why he did it.” Spike climbed up onto one of the raised platforms (for humans) to see what Perceptor was doing; once more was the Autobot examining Starscreams abdomen, with said Jet not looking too pleased about it, but accepting that Perceptor was right and he had to cooperate...for now.   
“What are you looking for, Perceptor?” Spike asked, waving Bumblebee over to join in “I’m looking for abnormalities, Spike; alterations within the lower chest cavity and the abdomen, to be exact.” In an instant of finishing his sentence, Perceptor proclaimed an ‘AHA!’ which indicated he had found what he wanted “This proves it Starscream. Megatron exiled you from the Decepticons because—” the Autobot Scientist was cut short by the entrance of Ratchet and Jetfire, who was in shock to see his ‘old’ friend lying on the table “S-Starscream?! Ratchet, why did you...how is this possible?!” Perceptor coughed, interrupting Jetfire “I was just about to explain that right now. Ratchet, come look at this. You’ll find it most intriguing.” Ratchet chuckled and strolled over to Perceptor, and looked down the Microscope only to fall over backwards.   
“V-vector Sigma!! The Decepticons actually—”   
“—yes, they do Ratchet. And obviously it was kept secret from us for some time.” Perceptor answered, Spike leaned over to Perceptor and managed to get a glance at what he had magnified, but didn’t understand what it was he was looking at “What’s that all about, Perceptor?” he asked, stepping back as the Scientist transformed allowing Starscream to sit upright again...and cover his abdomen with both arms protectively. Perceptor rubbed the back of his head and looked to Starscream, bowing slightly as if apologising.   
Bumblebee and Jetfire cringed at how friendly Ratchet and Perceptor where being to Starscream, whilst Wheeljack was still working on other tasks and wasn’t paying much attention “Well Spike, what you just saw was the expanded pores for the sinus tubes in the fusion cavity.”   
Spike scratched his head and shrugged, causing Perceptor to sigh and Starscream to face-palm “The space where Fusion takes place between female and male Cybertronians, every member of Cybertron has a Fusion Cavity. Just some of us never need to use it, or don’t know where it is.” Ratchet answered. Perceptor nodded and chuckled as he observed Starscream faintly blush whilst still maintaining the same angry expression from earlier. It was an angry blush, most likely caused by humiliation.   
“And the abnormalities we saw indicate that Starscream here has a SparkMate, which is at this moment stimulated enough for reproduction.” Perceptor began “And to think all this time we thought you would be as Humans call it, ‘the bitch’ in a relationship.” Perceptor teased, causing Starscream to try curling up to hide his embarrassment “Starscream...in a relationship that requires so much commitment? Don’t make me laugh.” Wheeljack snorted, Jetfire sighed as he approached the table and placed a hand on Starscreams back “Even under all this, you’ve not attacked us or made any effort to escape. What happened, Screamer?” Jetfire asked, kneeling down to his old friends’ level and rubbing his back to comfort him.   
But Starscream gave no answer, and literally ‘closed’ himself up and started twitching as if crying or fighting rage again. A slither of Energon forming from under where his head was tucked away confirmed it to be crying, and Jetfire continued to rub the Jets back and whisper ‘Shhh’ to him, before turning to Perceptor for answers.   
“Jetfire, this is very delicate as I’m sure you’re now aware of. Starscream has been exiled from the Decepticons, because it is likely the SparkMate he has is desired by Megatron...and in the ranks of the Decepticons, if Megatron wants something he gets it.” Perceptor began “So Starscream obviously chose to keep his partner in secret, and got caught?” Bumblebee asked, Perceptor nodded as a response and turned to Jetfire again “Out of spite, Megatron would not only beat Starscream but also attempt to kill him. I believe this is why some of the injuries appeared to have been fairly old; it was as if he was left to repair himself with very little equipment and just never had time to finish the repairs, most likely due to Megatron returning to attack him even further before he had a chance to heal. Consider it pouring salt into an open wound.” Perceptor explained, but continued further “The worst damage we saw was evidence of metal fragments in Starscreams brain, which I suspect was the result of him being shot off-guard with his helmet off. This could have been whilst he was repairing it, much like the rest of his body, or whilst fine-tuning his own circuits. The fragments had damaged his logic circuits to a point where it would have been liable to call him... mad. Fortunately we could repair the damage, even though at times it looked like it wasn’t going to end very well.”   
Spike folded his arms a moment and shook his head “Who’s idea was it to bring Starscream in the base and fix him then? Didn’t they think of the dangers it posed to the security?” Spike questioned, Perceptor sighed and tapped his head “I suggested it. And because I and several others witnessed Megatron dumping Starscreams body not too far from the base, we assumed he had exiled him. The removed Decepticon insignias were also evidence of the exile, along with damage to one of Starscreams most...valuable assets.” Spike, Jetfire and Bumblebee glanced at Starscream and then to Perceptor before looking at him rather curiously “What did he damage?” Spike asked, noticing how Jetfire instantly returned to comforting the still crying Starscream.   
Perceptor fidgeted with his feet and looked to Ratchet, who was also appearing fidgety. Wheeljack cursed before approaching the group whilst still working on some strange device “You both cringe so much just by damn well thinking about it! I’ll tell them if you can’t, bunch of fussers.” Perceptor became insulted, and waved off Wheeljack “I’m not fussing or cringing! I’m thinking of a simple way to explain the brutality of Megatron in this trifling case of prerogative!” the cursing scientist tossed the device he was holding aside and began pointing at Perceptor “Oh yeah, right, like you have the right to say trying to mutilate Starscream was brutal! You don’t even have a SparkMate; you have no idea what it’s like to face competition!” Wheeljack snapped, Perceptor held up his hands in defence for a moment before yet again being thrown into the argument.   
“And since when did you ever have a SparkMate, Wheeljack?!” Perceptor growled, pointing back at Wheeljack. Ratchet shuffled himself between the two Scientists and prevented them from further arguing “Enough, both of you! Perceptor will explain everything, no offence Wheeljack but he’s a lot better at explaining things whilst still around the patient.” Wheeljack huffed and cursed under his breath, before retrieving the device he was working on and returning to work.   
Perceptor breathed deeply to regain his calm, and patted Ratchet on the shoulder to thank him for breaking up that little squabble, before turning back to the other two Autobots, exiled-Decepticon and Human.   
“Megatron had attempted to cut off Starscreams Uplink Cable.” Perceptor finally answered, Bumblebee squinted and Jetfire gawked, but Spike just shrugged “What’s so strange about that? It’s just a cable—”   
The humanoid was cut off by Starscream shouting, with his head still buried in his lap, “ _It’s not ‘just a cable’!!”_ before crying again. Jetfire tried to sooth the jets crying, but was having little success “Starscream is quite right. It looks like a normal cable, but when magnified you actually find it is made up of fragments from his brain and ‘nervous system’ meaning that if he was conscious when Megatron tried severing it from his head, it would have inflicted an unbearable amount of pain. And in this case, it’s also used for...reproductive purposes.” Perceptor answered, Spike squinted after realising now why Perceptor and Ratchet where so convinced by Starscreams alliance being severed. “Megatron tried to cut off his...” Spike cringed, before being pushed by Bumblebee to quieten down “Yes, Spike. And I’m sure once Optimus Prime learns about this; he’s going to want more answers from Starscream about why Megatron became so desperate. Going so far as to mutilate and exile his Second in Command just for his SparkMate, it must truly be a valuable Femcon.” Perceptor answered before shuffling Bumblebee and Spike from the room.   
“Now please, leave us to continue our work. This process is very delicate and will require a significant amount of our time.” Jetfire stood up upon hearing Perceptor speak, and prepared to also leave, when Ratchet decided to hold him back by grabbing his arm “Not you, Jetfire. We need you to help us calm down and talk to Starscream.”  
  
The days rolled by, and with each passing battle the Autobots returned to an agitated prisoner and ‘no alliance’ Transformer. The prisoner was Eclipse; the youth who had been capture by the Autobots six months ago.   
“I want out! OUT! OUT! OUT! OUT! You can’t keep me in here forever you know! I have my rights!” the youth whined, getting shocked by his prison bars as he attempted to escape “Rights? You don’t have any rights as a Decepticon, because your leader says rights are a waste of time.” Gears growled, nudging Prowl who had nodded off beside him.  
 “Our shifts nearly over, do you want to cram another story into the kids head?” Prowl yawned and waved his hand tiredly as a response “Ha, guess you got lucky today kid.” Gears chuckled before ringing a nearby chime and leaving with a very weary Prowl following behind.   
Eclipse took the moment of absence to try and ram the bars down in his Bugatti mode, but was caught in the act by his new watchers “Spike, are you sure you’re up for taking Ironhides shift with me? It’s five hours.” Bumblebee asked, taking a seat in front of the cell with Spike sitting beside the Autobot Scout “Sure I am, Ironhide needs a break after that fight against Megatron.” The human chuckled; his Autobot friend was less pleased in the way he responded “Starscream didn’t help. If he wants to be on our side he needs to focus and not space out like he did.”   
Eclipse transformed back to robot mode and attempted to ram the bars again, but was shocked and sent back against the wall “Oh calm down Eclipse, it’s not story time yet.” Bumblebee pouted, watching as the Bugatti flipped him off within his cell “I still don’t trust Starscream, I mean...to go from Second in Command of the Decepticons to an outcast is quite the jump.” Spike informed as Eclipse huffed and folded his arms.   
“Megatron has exiled that dork before, why should this one be any different?” the Triple-Changer growled before perking up “I bet he sent him here to rescue me! After all these nightmarish months he’s finally going to free me from this dump—”  
“—Starscream told us to stop wasting our time with you and to throw you in the trash.” Bumblebee chuckled softly “So that means, you’re going nowhere.” Eclipse huffed and sat in the far left of his cell facing the wall, pouting and muttering to just himself.   
Then the devil arrived, pretty much on cue.   
“It was ‘treat him like trash and throw him out’ Bug-boy.” Starscream mocked, strolling over to the cell before making faces at Eclipse, who knew better than to turn around and look “You’re awfully immature for your age, Starscream.” Bumblebee giggled, nudging Spike before whispering to him about that whole ‘fraging-off’ thing that happened a while back in a Power Plant.   
Yes, Jazz had spread that story around incredibly fast.   
“I’m not immature, I’m just...irritated.” Starscream answered; ceasing his face-making before pacing around aimlessly “You’re twitchy too, did Optimus lecture you again?” the Seeker didn’t answer the yellow bug, and just continued his pacing and random twitches “I don’t think he’s listening again. Maybe I should get Ironhide to come in here and set him straight.” Bumblebee threatened in a low tone, purposely catching Starscreams attention.   
“I don’t need setting straight, I’ve just got a lot on my mind Bug-boy!” Bumblebee laughed “Oh really? Like what?”   
The Seeker stopped pacing and lowered his arms; looking at his feet “...you wouldn’t understand. So don’t ask.” Starscream answered in a bitter tone, rubbing the back of his helmet before heading back to the doorway.   
“The others are getting annoyed with your lack of concentration you know.” Spike informed, causing the jet to stop in his tracks and stand in silence for a few moments “...again, I have a lot on my mind. Not even you or your Autobot buddies could clear my thoughts.” Starscream muttered before leaving.   
Bumblebee nudged Spike gently before whispering in laughs _“I bet he’s going to frag-off again.”  
_  
Sadly the bug-bot was half right; Starscream was going to find a quiet place to be by himself. But he was not going to Self-Maintain; he wanted to clear his thoughts and not his Fusion Cavity.   
The Seeker had found the repair bay empty, and sat himself in the dark at the far corner of the room with his head in his hands, muttering and cursing to himself.   
_“I can’t believe I’ve lost...everything...”_ the Seeker muttered, throwing his arms onto his lap before leaning his head against the wall _“Maybe if I sit here they’ll leave me to die...”_ His little emo-bubble burst, remembering that so long as Solarflare was alive and those hatchlings never hatched he still had a chance. But the remaining young were hidden so well that not even Megatron could find them, so they were bound to hatch in safety.   
That little thought of hope shattered, and amongst the fragments were more ideas on getting Solarflare back to him. But he couldn’t help but remember the look in his partners eyes after he had told him he killed all those hatchlings without remorse; it was the look he never hoped to see, the sight of his SparkMate breaking into tears and screaming _‘monster’_.   
The words still buzzed within the Seekers mind like an annoying Insecticon; he was a murderer, an animal...a monster. The jealous instincts he had to possess Solarflare had finally been exposed to his logic circuits, and he calmly admitted to himself that what he had done truly was horrific.   
He had stooped down to Megatrons level, killing the weak and defenceless unborn like cattle without thinking of anything but his own selfish desires.  
 If he could turn back the clock to when Soundwave had spoken of an alliance with him, perhaps he wouldn’t have been in this situation. If he had only learnt to listen, think ahead and wonder of the consequences.   
The Seeker recalled the mess he made in the chambers he found those young in; the smashed shells, the Energon bath spill, the smell of oil and death. The images caused Starscream to bite his knuckles and cringe in disgust, remembering how _happy_ he felt killing each child. Only now had he imagined the feeling of seeing such scenes again, only them being his own young.   
The thoughts did not sit well, and within his processors Starscream felt ready to bring up his Energon from the disgust. To prevent himself from doing such a thing, the Seeker slapped a hand across his mouth and held back the contractions within his processor as best he could, before exhaling with relief when the desire to hurl his Energon subsided.  
Aside from the guilt he felt, the desires to be with Solarflare remained. How he yearned to taste his partner again, feel his touch, hear his voice. But he couldn’t help but think that after the crime he committed Solarflare would ever want to see his face again.   
The desire to be close to his SparkMate escalated in his loneliness within the Autobots; outcast to the Decepticons but swearing no loyalty to the Autobots left Starscream in the back row, in the shadows.   
The Seeker retracted his Uplink Cable and ejected the Neuron Wires, twitching his fingers as he became tempted to start pulling each wire from the device one by one, thereby mutilating himself. _“I don’t deserve to plant, ever...not after what I’ve done...”_ the Seeker muttered, grasping the end of a blue wire.   
He squinted in discomfort as he applied more pressure to the wire, before ripping it clean out and onto the floor _“Primus that really hurts...”_ he thought as he watched the remaining wires flail around as if trying to discourage him from continuing, but the guilt inside just continued to grow and overpower whatever feelings he had about the pain. And so he continued; edging to a purple wire this time and applying pressure to the fragile Sensus before crushing them, and pulling the wire out in one long strand.   
He had to remove each wire with care, for if he pulled too hard he risked damaging his brain. However a friend had arrived just in time before Starscream could remove the most valuable wire of them all; the yellow wire.   
“Starscream, what are you doing?! STOP!” Jetfire cried, rushing to Starscream and pulling his hand from his Uplink Cable “Leave me, Jetfire! I have to do this!” the Seeker whined, having his grip on his own cable released by the powerful force of his friend “You’ve lost your mind if you think doing this will help!” Jetfire squeezed the Uplink Cable tightly; causing the wires to retract and the whole cable to crawl slowly back into Starscreams head.   
The ex-Decepticon allowed his frame to slide against the wall and back onto the floor once Jetfire had released him, looking at his Fusion Cavity next as a potential target “Don’t even think about it, Screamer. You know doing this harm will benefit no one.”   
The Seeker whimpered as Jetfire continued to lecture him “Perceptor and Ratchet worked for hours non-stop to repair your Cable, don’t throw their efforts away.” The Autobot jet continued “You might think killing your Fusion Drive will release you from whatever burden is on your mind, but it’s not worth losing the chance at having a future in a family.”   
Starscream gazed up to his friend like a kicked puppy before muttering to him “After all I’ve done, I don’t deserve such nobility.”   
Jetfire sighed and sat alongside his friend still in the darkness, and began to pat him on the shoulder “What you did was wrong, Screamer, but dwelling on that incident won’t make it better. You can still have that family; just prove to your SparkMate you can be a good father.” Starscream remained silent and continued to stare at his Fusion Cavity, placing a hand over it to stop staring until noticing Jetfire do the same “If you do it, I’ll do it. That way you won’t suffer alone.” Starscream narrowed his eyes as if questioning Jetfire, wondering if he really meant what he just said “You wouldn’t...you’ve done nothing to deserve it...” the Seeker said in a weak voice. Jetfire chuckled “And you’ve done nothing to deserve it either, so stop torturing yourself.”  
Starscream looked at his Fusion Cavity again before looking to Jetfire, a weary smile perked onto his lips as he looked to his cheerful friend. Sometimes he would wonder why they fought so much in the past; Jetfire was always there for him, and he just exploited his friendship. Perhaps it was time he learnt from his mistakes and corrected them, instead of dwelling on the errors and making things worse.   
Jetfire rubbed Starscreams shoulder before chuckling and getting to his feet “Promise me Screamer that you won’t do something you’ll regret.” The Seeker sighed and placed his hands behind his helmet before shrugging “Give me more than one reason as to why I shouldn’t do it.” Starscream hummed, sounding a little less depressed “Well for a start you need that to make a family. And second, don’t you _enjoy_ using it?” Jetfire asked smugly, placing his hands on his hips.   
The ex-Decepticons face glowed pink for a moment as he realised that even Jetfire knew about the self-maintenance incident, before looking down to his feet “Uh, well...” Jetfire shushed Starscream before leaning down to him, whispering to him softly “If you ever feel down in the gutter or alone again just think; somewhere one of us feels the same.”   
Starscream exhaled as he was pulled into a friendly hug, before his friend took his leave in confidence that he’d gotten a message into the Seekers head. On one side of the coin Jetfire had convinced Starscream that mutilating himself wouldn’t solve anything, but on the other side he’d reminded the Seeker that he could have fun by himself, which meant once again Starscream would feel even more at a loss on how to impress his SparkMate before it became too late.   
Decisions had to be made, ideas had to be thought up and his damn Fusion Cavity needed to stop harassing him.  
  
“Think Starscream...what caught Flares eyes when you first met him?” the ex-Decepticon thought, rubbing his chin “Let’s see...when we first met he was still working as a freelance criminal...so when he saw me; he noticed my framework was similar, we talked about it, we found out we were related—”   
“—you’re related to your SparkMate?!” came a voice from the doorway, causing Starscream to grunt in irritation as Wheeljack entered the repair bay “That’s none of your business.” Starscream hissed as Wheeljack turned the light on and began clearing the repair tables for his patients “You do realise that what you’re doing is wrong; very, _very_ wrong.”  
Starscream just glared at Wheeljack, remaining totally silent and motionless as Ironhide and Jazz entered the repair bay, Ironhide literally threw himself onto the repair table and waved Wheeljack to hurry up and fix him as Jazz strolled over to Starscream.   
“Well well, look what we’ve got hiding in the corner Ironhide!” Jazz teased as Starscream folded his legs against his body and clung to them, protecting his Fusion Cavity from Jazz’ sight “I don’t care if the _little man_ is fraging-off in the corner because he misses his Decepticon woman, either shut up and help fix me or get rid of him.” Ironhide growled “it’s his fault I got shot in the first place.” Wheeljack began fixing Ironhide and waved a wrench over in the Seekers direction “Yeah you know what, he just said he’s related to his SparkMate.”   
In an instant Jazz slipped on an invisible object and fell onto his rear end, as Ironhide just twitched on the table “WHAT?! You’ve been getting funky with a relative?!” Jazz jabbered, causing Starscream to snarl and tighten his grip on his legs “It’s a five percent relation, it’s nothing.”   
Wheeljack continued repairing Ironhide but was by no means letting Starscream get the idea he was going to drop the subject anytime soon “Doesn’t matter if it’s frickin’ five percent or naught point one percent, the relation is still there and you shouldn’t touch it. Is she a cousin?”   
Bingo, Dr. Obvious.   
Starscream nodded at Wheeljacks question, not telling him that his SparkMate was actually a hermaphrodite who preferred being called ‘he’. Wheeljack face-palmed upon seeing the Seeker respond “Vector Sigma, why do they always have to fall for the frickin’ cousins...”   
Starscream growled and got to his feet, walking directly across Jazz without caring if he stood on him, to the doorway “They love me for who I am, not what we are. I’ll get them back, you’ll see.” The Seeker huffed before taking his leave to find another private spot.   
Jazz rolled from the floor and approached Ironhide chuckling “He’s got me curious, I wouldn’t mind meeting his cousin if she’s so hot to keep him chasing after her like this.” Ironhide was tempted to grab Jazz’ face and hit him seriously hard, but the repair work had to be done first. So instead, he just hit Jazz in the face to shut him up “Go frag yourself, you asshole.” Ironhide growled as Jazz began rubbing his punched face “Damn man, I hope Wheeljack crams a screw or two in your circuits!” the happening Autobot whined before transforming and heading elsewhere leaving Wheeljack to repairing Ironhide alone “I’m getting too damn old to deal with his crap.” Ironhide muttered.  
  
Again Starscream had found himself an empty spot to gather his thoughts, this time in the shelter of the inactive Volcano the Ark was stuck in. The Seeker leaned against the wall of the fiery mountain before sliding himself down onto his rear, sighing heavily “Where was I?” the Seeker muttered placing a finger in his mouth and humming to himself “Oh...I remember...” he purred, chuckling lightly as he got comfortable against the mountain walls, absorbing the soothing heat from the churning lava a few feet away.   
“We met in one of the underground society meetings...I got arrested, he escaped...reunited thanks to Astrotrain...” the Seeker began, trailing the finger from his mouth to his side “Worked together to hack that computer, he got arrested, I bailed him out...” he continued, sighing as his efforts to find _why Solarflare became interested in him_ resulted in failure so far.   
The ex-Decepticon scratched his torso before resting his hand on top of his Fusion Cavity “I told him I was going on a mission with Megatron, he asked if I’d be gone long...wait...” something didn’t fit; between the point Solarflare was bailed out of jail and Starscream mentioned his departure Solarflare became attached to him. But what it was exactly he’d become attached to was a mystery, and Starscream had to find that catalyst in order to impress his mate back to him. He must have displayed something of interest otherwise why would Solarflare have cared how long he’d be gone for?   
“That’s it: _Display_!” the Seeker clicked his fingers, finally finding the mechanism he needed to win Solarflare back to him. Fighting didn’t impress him, neither did long speeches. It was all about display, which would also explain why Solarflare constantly showed off his Solar Panels to Starscream even when he didn’t need to charge.   
He was displaying to him, saying in body language _“look at me; I can make my own Energon.”  
_ Just the images of those displays Solarflare gave to Starscream without him even knowing about it sent shivers down the Seekers spine, and made his Sinus Wires tingle within his Cavity. “Those big...Solar Panels...” the Seeker exhaled, grinning deviously “...and that wonderful crest...yes, it’s all making sense now...” everything was starting to make sense. Even the reasons behind Solarflares excessive nature to seek Fusion; he was built to bring about a new age of Decepticons.   
So unfortunately this meant Megatron was right about Solarflare being a breeder, but the little outburst Solarflare gave Starscream after murdering Soundwaves young proved that it was not his programming to be a stock breeder; for one thing, a breeder develops no bond between the partner and the young. Another reason is that they also can have limitless partners, and would not care if the young were destroyed. It seemed Solarflare sought out to start a family at some point and started displaying to attract partners, but when and why had no answers.   
“You joined the Decepticons to find a partner, not have the chance to kill Autobots like you said...” Starscream closed his eyes and inhaled deeply as he stroked his Fusion Cavity “...and you became a criminal back on Cybertron to prove you were no easy catch...” he exhaled, grunting as he felt his Sinus Wires press against his Cavity doors “...so it was before the crimes, before joining the Decepticon cause...what made you seek family over power?” Starscream allowed his Cavity doors to open, and for his Sinus Wires to drift in the heat calmly.   
Inhale; exhale. Think. Repeat.   
The cycle was necessary to keep both his mind satisfied as well as his body, for just the thought of the displays his mate gave to lure him into his web were so stimulating it became hard to think straight.   
“Your creator died shortly after you came to life...perhaps then you sought to create before you perished yourself?” the Seeker gasped as he felt his Sinus Wires tighten, locking around each other into a cable and absorbing the gentle heat from the Volcano.   
Inhale; exhale. Think. Forget it.   
“I know you’re just tempting me, but I won’t weaken this time.” Starscream muttered to himself, closing his eyes again and listening to the Volcano churn and his body speak to him.   
_“Let it all go, you can’t fight with such a burden on your body.”_ He’d hear, obviously from the side of him that sought Fusion _“It’s primitive, you don’t need to do anything but find your way back into the Decepticons.”_ His logic circuits would say _“Find Flare, take him like the Hellhound he is. Make him beg for your load.”_ Again his ‘primitive’ side teased him and his logic circuits just made things worse, where was the neutral? The in-between?   
What the hell happened to his equilibrium circuits?  
 _“Go on Starscream, have fun. Make yourself scream.”_ Again the primitive side began nudging him into relieving himself, but the logical side of things again just made him want to punch himself in the face _“Logically, you’d be wasting your produce; which means a reduction in the amount of content you’d be able to offload into your partner, and thereby a smaller chance of a powerful batch of young. Don’t do it.”_ The ex-Decepticon growled, feeling the heat within his mind escalate and the tension in his Sinus Wires throb.   
His mind was telling him not to do it, but his body was screaming horribly for output.   
Inhale; exhale. Inhale; exhale.   
The ex-Decepticon grunted as he grasped his Sinus Wires within his hand and squeezed them “I don’t need output, _I need Flare_ dammit.” He rasped through his teeth, feeling the pulse of his Spark through his wiring which forced a groan from his trembling lips. The Seeker spread his legs and maintained his grip on his cable-formed like Sinus Wires, fighting the urge to push his produce out _“Not this time...I won’t do it this time...”_ he thought, feeling himself fill up under his grip.   
Starscream blushed as he felt his produce force its way up the clenched wires against his will, gasping as the first slither of Solder dripped from the end of his knot _“No...Stop...just stop already!”_ he thought angrily, groaning with relief as more of his load seeped its way out steadily.   
The red, white and blue Seeker felt his hand tremble under the feeling of a build up in his wires, and eased his grip _“Fine! Have it your damn way then! Stupid body...”_ Starscream thought bitterly, even as his outer appearance reflected his enjoyment of the situation.   
Logic had lost against instincts yet again and once more had the equilibrium been missing from the scenario. The Seeker maintained his grip on his cable-knotted wires, but allowed his produce to slowly seep out and ease the pressure within his cavity _“Why the fuck am I producing so much to begin with?!”_ he thought angrily _“Primus, maybe I should seal the cavity shut...”_ he added to his thoughts, feeling the temptation to squeeze his wires and push his load out, but with the power of his logic circuits he resisted.   
However the circuits couldn’t stop him from taking pleasure from the moment, even if it was to his disliking _“This is such a damn waste!”_ he thought, moaning as he felt a meld of his content build up and work its way to the closed sections of the wires, thanks to the grip his hand had on them _“Fuck, go back! Dammit obey me!”_ the Seeker gasped as he released his grip, allowing the load to eject between his legs _“My logic circuits don’t seem to be functioning correctly...maybe it’s the heat?”_ he thought, forcing the remnants of his build up to eject.   
Then the reasons hit him; Flare.   
The thoughts of Solarflares displays had turned off his equilibrium circuits, and turned on his instinctive circuits and as a result activated his Fusion Drive. Logic would always come second when equilibrium was off, with instinctive drive taking full swing.   
Starscream moaned as he continued to clean off his build up, growling with each attempt at releasing his load his body sought him to do. Resisting his own bodies urges and functions would result in unpleasant experiences, but Starscream knew that he had to learn self control if he wanted to become Decepticon Leader. However right now he was on Fusion Drive, not Logic; resistance was futile.  
 _“Slag, slag, SLAG! This isn’t going to end well!”_ he thought, groaning as he felt more of his produce seeking an exit. Not just his Solder seeking release, but his other functions began to work in unison with his Fusion Drive; Energon began seeping from his mouth, making him appear as if salivating and sparks began emitting from his jets. The resisting had begun to apply pressure on his thrusters, and as a result he started to suffer.   
_Inhale; exhale. Inhale; exhale.  
_  He dared not open his eyes as he felt his body run on instinct, afraid of seeing what he was doing or going to do. It was bad enough he felt everything he touched, how his arm motioned; thrusting his gripped hand up and down his knotted wiring, increasing the speed to tickle his produce into ejecting to goodness knows where.   
_Inhale; exhale.  
_ He could feel the next build up within his cavity, feeling as if his storage tanks were not even emptying. Where had all this extra produce come from? Surely his tanks would be emptying with how much was coming out.   
“*gasp* Primus!!” Starscream groaned, continuing with the process “Flare--!!” finally, release. A shower of his produce ejected from the wiring, drifting down his gripping hand and between his legs. He had learnt from the last time, keeping his legs evenly apart to prevent the mess getting onto them, but now it was all over his hand without him even noticing “Ugh...Flare...give me life...” he muttered, placing the gripping hand on his torso before realising that he’d just made a mess of himself “...slag, what a way to kill the mood...” he pouted, attempting to flick away his content only to get it on his other hand too “Dammit, I knew this was a stupid idea.” The Seeker growled, attempting to resist the desire to keep going with his self-maintenance “You can damn well wait, it’s because of you I’m in all this mess!” the ex-Decepticon grasped his Sinus Wires tightly in anger, and looked tempted to yank them out to destroy his Cavity with, when inside the back of his mind he heard something speak to him…   
_“Do you think mutilating yourself will make me feel better, Screamer?”_ Solarflare was talking to him; but how? Starscream thought for a moment and eased his grip on himself, listening carefully to Solarflares voice in his head.   
_“You’ve forgotten already? I can talk to you through telepathy; when you and I united I took your signal information so I could always find you, and always be with you.”_ The Seeker swallowed nervously before whispering “...so you knew what just happened?” in response he heard Solarflare chuckle _“Yeah, I know. I’m wondering why you stopped, I was enjoying myself.”  
_ Starscream blushed before getting angry again “Hey wait an Astrosecond! If you could talk to me in my head then why didn’t you answer the things that where annoying me a moment ago?!”   
Solarflare sighed, which made Starscream ease his anger _“isn’t it obvious? I wanted you to figure the reasons out yourself. Soundwave still doesn’t know why I started displaying; it’s meant to be your job alone to figure it out and read the messages I give you.”_ Starscream groaned and continued to try and clean himself off, receiving a giggle from Solarflare _“If I was there right now, I’d gladly help clean you off...I love how you taste, dear.”  
_ The ex-Decepticon blushed upon hearing the flirtatious tone from his SparkMate, and could almost feel Solarflare wrapping his arms around him “...you...you called me...dear.” he muttered _“Get the message? Or do I have to spoon-feed you like I’ll end up having to feed your babies?”  
_ Starscream grinned deviously, slipping one of his fingers into his mouth and began cleaning off his produce, hearing Solarflare groan in amusement at the tender and seductive motions Starscream displayed as he continued his cleaning _“Get the Autobots to accept my presence temporarily, just long enough for you to give me your stuff.”_ He heard his SparkMate request, in return gaining a powerful suck from Starscream on one of his fingers, causing the Triple-Changer to groan again seductively _“Primus, I want you now...you’re so damn alluring...”_  
The Seeker finished cleaning himself off with a soft lick to his palm before swallowing his produce, hearing his partners voice tremble in excitement “Jetfire already knows how badly I need you, the others just think I’m being depressing on purpose.” Starscream informed, allowing his arms to rest either side of him _“As embarrassing as this may sound to you, get caught doing this. If anyone asks just say you seriously miss me.”  
_ Starscream cracked his neck to one side and proceeded to crack his knuckles “Will you be staying with me, _dear_?” he teased, receiving a chuckle from the voice of his partner _“Certainly; this should kick me into wanting you right away...we could skip the foreplay.”_ Starscream smirked “Now where’s the fun in skipping? Just warm up that Cavity of yours, I’m giving you everything I can if I don’t lose it all here.” He purred, grasping his knotted Sinus Wires again _“Trust me, you couldn’t run out even if you did that all day. Your Fusion Drive is overriding your Logic Circuits, making you produce more bonding materials than normal at the expense of your weapons lacking ammunition.”  
_ Starscream chuckled as he began his self-maintenance again, listening to Solarflare who continues speaking _“It really pays off having a mate who understands my language; Soundwave doesn’t understand a lot of the same talk I use.”_ The ex-Decepticon chirped teasingly as a response, continuing with his ‘work’ _“You certainly have a way with your hands, Screamer...you should make use of them when I come over.”_ The Triple-Changer hummed, exhaling as he heard his partner moan. “Flare...I...” the Seeker groaned as he began forcing his load to seep out _“Screamer...”_ Starscream arched his body, groaning “...I...I love you...”


	8. Union

The plan was starting to take motion at last, once again was Starscream caught ‘fraging himself’, unfortunately by Jazz again. It wasn’t long before Optimus Prime heard about the little problem and ordered the ‘un-allied’ Transformer to see him in private for a talk.   
“Starscream, word has gotten around that you’ve been losing focus on the battlefield.” Optimus began, looking down at the heavily embarrassed Seeker.   
“Also, Jazz has reported you’ve been engaging in Self-Maintenance for the third time this month. Is there something you’re not telling us?” Starscream began fidgeting with his hands and feet, looking nervous. Here he was before Optimus Prime...alone. He could easily attempt killing him, and take control of the Autobots before taking control over the Decepticons, but his Fusion Drive was putting itself first as usual. He sought Fusion with Solarflare more than anything, and so he went along with the plan. He could kill Optimus Prime later if he gets the chance again.   
“Starscream? You’re spacing out again.” Optimus announced, placing his hands on his hips “Oh...err...well I’ve had a lot on my mind recently and...” the Seeker paused, and once again began spacing out “Vector Sigma, it’s exactly as Ironhide described.” the Autobot Leader chuckled, snapping his fingers at Starscream to bring him out of his trance “...oh...err...yeah I’ve been thinking about...things...it’s making me lose focus.” Starscream answered slightly dazed, causing Optimus prime to fold his arms “Thinking about what, exactly?”   
Starscream rubbed the back of his helmet “It’s...complicated...you wouldn’t understand.” The Autobot Leader knelt down to Starscream and began whispering “If it’s about your SparkMate, then I know all too well about the feeling of separation.” Starscream jolted his attention to Optimus Prime, looking rather curious but at the same time a bit uneasy at how easily the Autobot Leader knew what was exactly bothering him.   
Never in the Decepticons did Megatron ever talk privately with a soldier to help them solve little problems, instead he’d just shoot them with his Cannon or threaten to turn them into scrap if they didn’t change their attitude. Then again this was the Autobots, the friendlier of the two Cybertronians.   
“You miss your SparkMate desperately, don’t you? Jetfire told me everything.” Optimus Prime asked, observing as Starscream lowered his head and began spacing out again. The Leader continued to stare down at Starscream and awaited an answer, before getting his attention grasped by Wheeljack and Ratchet rushing into the room.   
“Optimus Prime! Sorry to disturb you but—” Ratchet began, until being pushed aside by Wheeljack “—Solarflare’s outside! And he looks frickin’ pissed about something!”   
Optimus Prime stood upright again and approached the two scientists “Starscream, we’ll continue this discussion later. Wait here while we handle this problem. Ratchet, Wheeljack; meet me outside.” And with those words the Autobot Leader rushed out the doors, followed by Wheeljack and after a short delay to stare at Starscream, Ratchet also followed.   
Starscream smirked when all three Autobots had departed; feeling Solarflares presence and energy grow in strength with each second. He wanted him now. Right now.  
  
Outside, Solarflare had parked his rear on a boulder just a few feet away from The Ark and was staring down the Autobots who had already positioned themselves outside with their weapons ready, when Optimus Prime and the two scientists arrived on the scene.   
Optimus Prime readied his weapon and leaned down to Bumblebee and Spike “Has he demanded anything or passed any messages?” he asked them; Spike shook his head as Bumblebee answered “No, he just landed here and sat there like he’s waiting for someone.”   
The Autobot Leader rubbed his faceplate before calling out to Solarflare “What brings you here, Solarflare? Did Megatron send you to deliver a message?”   
He got no answer.   
“See? He just sits there; doesn’t say a word or even move.” Spike announced, causing Optimus Prime to once again rub his faceplate in curiosity “it could be a Decepticon trap to kill Starscream and rescue Eclipse, keep your optics open—” as the Leader began to deliver instructions to his Autobots, Starscream had strolled out from behind him casually and stood in line with the Autobots before approaching Solarflare.   
Ironhide prepared to shoot until Optimus Prime forced him to lower his weapon “Wait, I want to see where this goes.” He ordered, turning to his fellow Autobots to lower their weapons but keep them on alert.   
Starscream stood within inches of the perched Solarflare, and the two simply stared at each other. For several minutes they gazed into one another’s eyes, exchanging the longing they had for each other in the glowing red optics. Then Starscream broke the silence, softly uttering the words _“...Flare...”_ before being greeted with a heavy hug from his SparkMate “Screamer, I’ve missed you so much...” the hermaphrodite nuzzled his SparkMates shoulder and wept in joy, causing a majority of the Autobots to scratch their heads in confusion.   
Optimus Prime muttered _“So that’s why”_ before approaching the duo.   
Starscream remained clinging to his partner as the giant Autobot towered over them, caring about nothing but the Decepticon in his arms. Said partner had noticed the towering frame of Optimus, and cowered in Starscreams arms “Starscream, I understand the reasons for your secrecy over your SparkMate now.” The Autobot Leader informed, pointing to Jazz and calling him over “Just this once I’ll allow you both to be together, so long as Jazz can keep his eyes on you both.” Jazz pouted “But Optimus! Why am I always the one to stumble across Starscream _doing things_ and watch him?!” the cool-bot whined “Because you’re a suitable candidate; Prowl is still trigger-happy around Starscream and our medical staff have too much work to do to be dealing with this couple.” Optimus Prime informed, nudging Jazz over to the pair “Just make sure they don’t do anything a Decepticon would do. It’s just for today.”   
Jazz pouted again as he observed Starscream smirk deviously before smothering his partner with nuzzles “Man, this is unfair play Optimus.” The Autobot Leader chuckled before heading back to his forces “Autobots resume your duties. The meeting will still be taking place this evening. Just continue your work and pay little attention to Starscream and Solarflare...that is after all Jazz’ job.”   
  
Rightly so, the couple clung to each other through the remainder of the day under Jazz’ watchful eye; they flirted with one another, shared stories together and loitered in the many corridors to The Ark. Jazz was growing tired of the pair having all the fun, and was also unhappy to find that Starscreams so called ‘hot cousin’ was male...or appeared to be male anyway.   
Eventually the duo had found each other with Jazz in the repair bay and sat in the corner of the room, the same place Starscream had attempted to mutilate himself several hours ago “Autobot, me and Flare need a moment alone...” Starscream purred, licking his partners cheek causing Jazz to cringe “Damn Starscream, this is your cousin...you shouldn’t be doing this crap...” the Autobot whined, causing Starscream to turn on him instantly with a cold glare “You don’t tell me what to do, Autobot.” The ex-Decepticon growled before being pulled into a passionate kiss by Solarflare “Be that way then, asshole.” Jazz whined as he observed Perceptor entering the room, waving some paper above his head “Jazz, the blueprints for that _immobiliser_ Wheeljack made are ready! I’m going to leave them on this desk!” the scientist announced loudly, before leaving the room.   
Jazz scratched his helmet before realising that Perceptor was testing the couple, to see if they truly were seeking nothing but a few moments together, or if they had been sent on undercover missions with the ruse of being SparkMates.  
The chime sounded throughout the Ark that Optimus Prime was about to start the meeting for the evening, with the couple and their watchman Jazz taking their leave. The Autobot watchman watched in amazement as both Starscream and Solarflare passed the desk where the ‘blueprints’ had been placed without even glancing at them, continuing on their way to the meeting embracing one another.   
Upon arriving at the meeting the pair found themselves at the back row, just behind Red Alert and Inferno who where gossiping and giggling, and alongside Perceptor and Wheeljack who were debating something. When Jazz entered behind the couple Optimus Prime began his speech.   
  
“Autobots, tonight we can rest easy knowing Megatrons plans to destroy this planet and drain it of its resources have been once more put at bay. The humans will not have to suffer, the planet will not wither, and life can continue as normal for all life whilst the Decepticons continue to find ways to solve their Energon problems. Now that the Space Bridge is out of commission, it has come to our attention that Astrotrain has been making frequent trips to Cybertron in order to keep Energon flowing. Thankfully the Aerialbots have been making his trips difficult, and have managed to bring to us Energon so we may continue to fight the menace.” Optimus Prime continued his speech, which seemed to be putting Jazz to sleep from all the work he had been doing all day, allowing Starscream and Solarflare to slip out of the Meeting to find somewhere private.  
  
What better place to court his SparkMate than outside under the stars? After all, his name was _Starscream._ If he had to take his partner anywhere he felt better in the open winds, feeling the warm breeze against his frame and hearing the wind blow through the desert terrain.   
Outside, Solarflare trailed himself free from Starscream and leapt above the Ark onto a cliff in the mountain, removing his wings and setting them aside.   
The Seeker pursued and trailed his arms across the un-winged back of his partner purring lovingly to him, in return receiving a flirtatious chirp from his lover. The triple-Changer pulled himself free from Starscream and approached the wall, leaning face-first against it displaying his back, observing seductively as his partner returned a display of his wingspan.   
Solarflare extended his Panels with his back still exposed to Starscream, flexing the shining devices in a flapping display, before retracting them back against him and turning to face his partner fully. “See, the foreplay is always fun...” Starscream hummed, sitting himself by the edge of the cliff and watching as his partner continued to display his frame and chirp gently imitating a bird.   
The Triple-Changer stopped his display to see what his partner would do next, and in return for his show the ex-Decepticon spread his legs apart and seductively twirled his finger in the space between them as if enticing his SparkMate to approach him. Of course, Solarflare was in the mood now for some interaction, and hopped to his partner slipping himself between his legs kissing him passionately.   
Starscream ejected his Uplink Cable and stroked it against his partners’ cheek, enticing him to eject his also.   
Solarflare was all too happy to cooperate, and ejected his cable with haste before locking it against Starscreams, connecting them together; the duo continued to kiss one another passionately as Starscream teased his partners Cavity doors with his fingers, eventually having the Triple-Changer open them for him.   
The Seeker grinned deviously, slipping himself underneath Solarflare to surprise his partner; the triple-Changer gasped as he felt Starscream lick his Fusion Cavity, sliding his tongue across his plug and along the Sinus Tubes that had ejected “Star---Starscream!!” Solarflare gasped as his partner continued to tease his Cavity, unaware that he was being raised upright.   
The ex-Decepticon ceased his teasing and twirled Solarflare so his legs hung over the side of the cliff, holding onto his mate closely “I want you now, come to me.” Solarflare groaned; slamming his Cavity against Starscreams still closed doors and licking his mates’ neck. The Seeker hummed as he grasped Solarflares rear and hauled him up, positioning his partner into a comfortable kissing reach, before ejecting his Sinus Wires and locking them against Solarflares Tubes. Solarflare moaned as the wires connected before being pulled into a gentle kiss from his lover, his cheeks flushing pink as Starscream forced him repeatedly in a thrusting motion against his Cavity, jumping their wires and tubes into life.  
  
Back inside, the speech had ended. Optimus Prime was now meeting members of his team individually giving them orders and praise for their efforts, until reaching Jazz who had fallen asleep “Jazz, did you fall asleep in my speech?” the Autobot Leader questioned, placing his hands on his hips. The Cool-bot snapped awake the instant he heard Optimus speak, and panicked when he noticed he was being spoken to “Uh, no...I fell asleep when Starscream and Solarflare started making out. Your speech was really good this time, Optimus!” Jazz answered, noticing how his Leader was taking observation of something “Where are they now?” he asked.   
Jazz stood motionless, spacing out. He’d fallen asleep when he was supposed to be watching the two love birds. That meant they could be anywhere now. “I see...you don’t know where they are.” Optimus Prime stated bluntly, causing Jazz to lower his head in shame “I...I’m sorry Optimus, it won’t happen again.”   
The Autobot Leader folded his arms and turned to the other Autobots “Attention Autobots; Solarflare and Starscream are missing. Find them and alert me of where they are and what they’re up to, search the whole ship!” he ordered, waving everyone out “As for you Jazz, you’ve been working hard all day. A mistake like this was bound to happen eventually. Take a break.” Jazz rubbed his head and walked slowly from the room as Optimus Prime turned to face Spike and Sparkplug “You two should rest too, unlike us you need to rest more frequently if I remember correctly.” He informed, catching a yawn from Sparkplug but not even a shred of sleepiness from Spike “I’m good Optimus, let me help search.” Spike asked, only to receive a shake of the head from the Autobot Leader “No, if it turns out the pair really where spies then that would put you in danger. Rest now.” Spike yawned before being escorted out of the room by his father, with Optimus turning to face Bumblebee next.   
“You keep your optics on Eclipse, Bumblebee, unless he’s already escaped. If that is the case report to me and I’ll reissue everyone’s orders.”  
  
Ten minutes had passed. Then twenty. Then thirty. Then one hour. Nobot had found the couple, and they had been ordered to return to their previous duties.   
Perceptor was examining some of the samples from Starscream in the labs when Spike entered yawning with Bumblebee drifting behind “Hey Perceptor, what’s up?” Bumblebee asked as he approached the scientist, who remained in microscope form allowing Bumblebee and Spike to see what he was looking at “Greetings you two, I’m just observing the Nano-bots from Starscreams Solder. It appears the tension he had been suffering for the time spent with us was indeed a result of Fusion Drive activity.” Perceptor informed, allowing Bumblebee to look at what was magnified “Wow, there’s a lot of Nano-bots there...” he gawked, allowing Spike to have a look himself “Indeed Bumblebee, you see that sample is recent and reveals that Starscream is currently active for Fusion. The older sample you saw some time ago revealed he was neutral. So within the past month he has suddenly become active again, which can only mean that his SparkMate is able to conceive again.” Spike tilted his head and shrugged, unable to understand Perceptor completely “Spike, let me put it this way. Starscream is reproductively active because his mate is able to bear children again. Chances are that Solarflares arrival today was to entice Starscream into mating with her.” Perceptor explained.   
Bumblebee scratched his helmet before folding his arms and looking out the doorway “Hey that reminds me; where did those two go?”  
  
Back outside, the couple were still engaged in Fusion. It had already taken Starscream a solid half an hour to warm up his partner, and the recent twenty minutes where purely used for increasing Solarflares output ratio.   
The Seeker purred gently as he continued to thrust his partner against him, in return feeling the triple-changer within his embrace shiver and finally unleash his share “Nice, dear...very nice...” Starscream hummed, continuing his advancements. Solarflare arched his head backwards, unleashing an almighty scream as his mate increased the thrusting speed, now attempting to stimulate himself into giving Solarflare his half of the work.   
The Triple-Changer moaned as he felt Starscream pulse within him, groaning as his Cavity began to contract from the inner temptations of his partners tools “Take every drop, Flare...make me those amazing hatchlings...” the Seeker whispered, smirking as he observed his mate become entranced in the moment and continue to moan.   
“Can you feel it Flare?” he purred, nibbling on his partners shoulder as they continued moaning from the thrusting “can you feel the build up I have in store for you?” the Seeker groaned, feeling his Sinus Wires tighten from the stimulation caused by the thrusting; Solarflare exhaled as he felt Starscream unleash his load within him and ceased his thrusting _“Every drop, Flare...every drop.”_ The ex-Decepticon exhaled, feeling his Spark pulse in excitement.   
His SparkMate relaxed within his arms, and accepted the flow of bonding materials with pleasure, trailing his arms from around his mates’ shoulders to hanging freely, leaning backwards falling entirely into his protective grasp. He was his right now, and he wanted to be taken by him in any manner.   
The desire to bear his young overpowered the pain within his Cavity from the masses of Nano-bots being pumped into him; Starscream was a rough but passionate lover, ensuring that his speed and force were just below the limit bar. He knew Solarflare enjoyed pain to some extent, but being in agony during the mating process was likely not desirable. So no matter how badly he wanted to screw Solarflare in awkward places, or positions, he knew now that if he didn’t put his Partner first he’d be the same as _him_. The molesting slag called Megatron; the one who tried to turn his precious Flare into a stock breeder, taking him wherever he was at the time and in any position he chose.   
He didn’t care about Solarflares feelings, he didn’t care if he was even damaging his SparkMates body in the process; he just wanted to plant and reap the rewards later.   
But Starscream wanted to ensure the tyrant never got the army he desired, he wanted to bring up his own family in hope that one of the young may someday overthrow the Decepticon Leader where he had failed to do so. As for the receiving Decepticon, he just wanted company and a family to protect.   
Nobot seemed to care why he wanted a family so badly; none but Starscream. He knew the triple-changer enjoyed the idea of creating a positive future for the Decepticons, he knew he’d enjoy being a mother, but the one thing that he knew he really enjoyed the most was the close bond he shared with both of his desired SparkMates.   
“Wonderful Flare, just relax and take it all...” Starscream purred, hearing his SparkMate moan softly as he began thrusting him against his frame again in a slow and steady rhythm. He had planted one batch, but to ensure he had a nice, large healthy brood he had to plant more bonding metals for Solarflares body to work with.   
But he did not want to rush.  
He wanted to take in every inch of this moment, plant the memories deep, feel his SparkMates body begin to do its job and cherish every sight, smell and sound. Even as he sensed that at some point the Autobots would find him, the ex-Decepticon was not going to stop for anyone but his mate. If Flare wanted him to continue he would do as he requested, without a moment’s thought.  
Solarflare placed one of his hands just above his Fusion Cavity, and began stroking, moaning as his lover slowly and softly continued to plant within him “Screamer...you’re...so gentle...” the Triple-Changer exhaled. Starscream didn’t know if that was a compliment or a sign that he was not satisfying his partners’ needs, and shrugged “I want to remember this evening, forever.” The Seeker responded in a seductive tone “If I go slow, it might also help keep your generator from overheating...” the Triple-Changer hummed in delight as he felt his partner caress his back, mainly supporting him around his generator “Let’s make music together, wonderful music...like the _Seekers_ we are...”  
Starscream hauled himself up, keeping his SparkMate in his grasp and still fused to him, before carrying Solarflare towards a boulder and setting him down “Call to me, dear.” He whispered, placing his legs on each side of the boulder so his partner was securely between them, leaning back to see his partner blush from the new position he was put in. It was not dominating on either side; it was in near direct level, allowing them both to look into each other’s eyes without straining to look up or down.   
The Triple-Changer felt Starscream place his hands just above the still linked Fusion Cavity, and moaned as his partner began stroking “Call...” the teasing jet whispered, trailing his hands to his partners hips “Hear me call, and answer me back with yours...” he purred seductively, licking his mates cheek before massaging the hermaphrodites hips gently to stimulate his pumps. Starscream then began thrusting much harder, but remaining slow, causing Solarflare to groan with each push.  Starscream began moaning from the friction, breathing heavily as he steadily increased his tempo to reach overload and begin his ‘call’ to Solarflare.   
The rhythm of his thrusting began to tighten his Sinus Wires, forcing a heavy moan to escape from his mouth as he exhaled, before unleashing the second wave of his produce alongside another, much louder, moan. Solarflare returned the same sounds as he received the burden from his partner, feeling himself being wrapped in his lovers embrace _“Yes Flare, call to me...”_  the Seeker whispered, taking in deep breaths. Solarflare continued moaning, crying out his lovers name, as his partner took a moment to rest as his body finished offloading that second batch.   
The moment Starscream felt his load stop he severed the connection between them, and lowered himself to his partners’ abdomen before licking his already aroused lovers Cavity Plug “*gasp* Starscream!!” the Triple-Changer panted as he felt his partners tongue tease his cavity and forced his hand onto the Seekers helmet, gripping tightly as the jet continued to tease.   
“*pant* Screamer—I’m—” the ex-Decepticon ceased his teasing once he felt his partner tense, sensing that he was stimulated enough to go one more round “Dear, give me a healthy brood;  a nice, big brood.” Starscream purred, reconnecting himself to his partner, beginning his gentle thrusting again.   
Solarflare exhaled as he felt himself be lowered onto the floor, and decided now was the best chance to repay his mate for the wonderful time he had been blessed with. The Triple-Changer severed their Uplink Cable connection, and yanked Starscreams Cable towards his mouth before sliding his tongue across the closed Stub, forcing a gentle groan to seep from his partner “Give it to me...I fucking _love_ it...” Solarflare moaned, slipping the cable end into his mouth and began sucking. Starscream felt his knees tremble, and his burden be eased within his Cavity, with every suck his partner made.   
This wasn’t the reward Solarflare had in store for his lover, it was just the start. No he wanted to make Starscream do some screaming, without being the one on top. The Triple-Changer enjoyed being on the bottom, being able to produce life, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to make his partners make the same sounds he did. He had his own methods to get them to cry for him to stop, or beg for more. But this was just a warm up to help his partner, and tease him into guessing what awaited him later.   
Starscream had taken the little request his partner made seriously, and began increasing his speed once again “Harder, Screamer—harder!” Solarflare moaned, releasing his mates Uplink Cable allowing it to scout for his own and reconnect them together. Starscream began panting as he continued his efforts, trying with all his might to satisfy Solarflares requests “Ping me...ugh...ping me harder...” the requests kept coming, as did the Seekers desires to unleash himself in one go.  
Unfortunately for the couple, Spike and Bumblebee had offered to continue searching for them, and had started to search outside. The first thing that came to the friends attention was how quiet it was outside, until hearing Solarflare begin moaning for ‘more’ of something.   
“Wasn’t that Solarflare?” Spike questioned, scouting his gaze around him until seeing the very odd look on Bumblebees face “hey Bee, are you alright?” Spike asked, noticing how stunned the yellow-bug appeared to be “I’m...I’m fine...just...listening...” Bumblebee answered, before observing Spike begin climbing a nearby mound of rocks “It’s coming from above the Ark, let’s investigate.” Spike suggested as he climbed.   
Bumblebee jolted before rushing after Spike “You can’t go up there! If you disturb Starscream now he’ll squash you!” the Autobot Scout panicked, but his human friend wasn’t paying attention, he just continued to climb to see what was going on at the top of this cliff face. Poor Bumblebee felt that if Spike was going to get crushed for disturbing the events he felt where taking place, then he’d at least be able to attempt to shield him from the brute force for suggesting they check outside.   
“Bee, what’s happening?” Spike asked, finally peeking over the Cliff Face to find Starscream still fusing with Solarflare “...you’re really stupid sometimes you know, Spike.” Bumblebee muttered, peeking over the Cliff Face before gawking and hiding his eyes from what he just saw “Primus...Primus...Primus...it’s true...” Bee muttered, causing Spike to nudge him for answers “What’s true? What’s Starscream doing?”   
The Autobot blushed, before peeking over the Cliff Face again and hiding the instant he got a look “Starscream is...mating...” Bumblebee muttered “...what? You mean he’s—”   
“—whatever human word you’re about to use, I’m sure it’s right.” Bumblebee cut Spike short before looking up again, giggling “Solarflare’s really enjoying that...I wonder...vector Sigma, they’ve been doing that for all this time?!”   
Suddenly the moaning stopped, and Bumblebee attempted to hide himself once he’d observed that Starscream had heard him “Bee what’s wrong?” Spike asked the cowering Autobot “Quiet Spike! The last thing you want to do is disturb a freaking Decepticon whilst he’s _courting,_ but it’s a death wish to disturb him whilst he’s _mating_!” the mini-bots’ fear escalated when he found Starscream towering above him, glaring coldly at the humanoid and Autobot “Flare, what should we do about the two nosey creatures?” the Seeker asked teasingly, grabbing Bumblebee as he attempted to escape “Oh, just let him go. I want you to finish the job before I decide to leave.” The Triple-Changer teased back, removing his helmet and displaying his crest.   
Starscream turned to Solarflare and licked his lips, enjoying what he was seeing “You said let him go, what about this one?” the Seeker chuckled, grabbing Spike and hauling him up so his mate could see him clearly “A human? Hmmm...” the Triple-Changer purred, stroking his legs seductively causing Bumblebee to blush (Teenbot going through puberty, anyone?) “I heard the Humans make good cattle for the young.” Starscream chuckled, teasing still of course “The mammal wouldn’t provide the nutrients the Hatchlings would need, he’d only be good as a pet.” Solarflare exhaled, spreading his legs to lure his mate back to him. The displays seemed to be working, as Starscream began paying more attention to Solarflare than the two peepers he had caught.   
“Hey Starscream, put us down already! I’m on to your plan now!” Spike whined, flailing around under the Seekers delicate grasp. Bumblebee immediately began hushing Spike, observing as Solarflare had gotten to his feet and made his way over to them. Starscream just stared hypnotically at his mate, uncaring of what was being said or done. “You’ve got a big mouth for a human, maybe someone should seal it shut.” Solarflare growled, placing his hands on his hips “You and Starscream are exchanging tactics up here! Bumblebee said whatever I was thinking was right!” Bumblebee narrowed his eyes and glared at Spike “...you’re embarrassing...”   
In an instant Solarflare began laughing “You think what we were doing was sharing tactics? Oh dear fleshling you have much to learn about our kind.” The Decepticon chuckled, leaning on his partner “And you, young Autobot, should have known better than to disturb my Seeker in his efforts.” Bumblebee blushed and lowered his head, muttering that he was sorry “I may be a Decepticon, but I need love just as much as any Autobot does. Now take your human friend and leave us, I’m starting to lose my mood.” Solarflare instructed, grasping the pair from his still entranced lover and setting them back behind the Cliff Face, allowing them to make their escape.   
“Are you going to tell Optimus where they are?” Spike asked the yellow-bot, who looked rather unsure of what to do “I think...I’ll tell Perceptor about this first...he’ll know what to say or do...” When the duo had taken their leave, Solarflare trailed his hands across his partners cheeks, reaching upwards to plant a soft kiss onto his lips “The pests are gone now, dear, finish your work like a good boy.” The Triple-Changer purred, lowering himself to the floor and spreading his legs apart “I’ll reward you when you’re all done...” he added, chirping as his partner returned to ‘work’ hypnotically.  
  
Back inside the Ark, Bumblebee and Spike had found Perceptor inside the laboratory, still examining samples from his Autobot brothers and Starscream “Ah greetings once more to you both, did you have any luck finding our Decepticon and his mate?” Perceptor asked, transforming from microscope mode to robot form.   
Bumblebee blushed and nudged Spike “Well, yeah we found them both but...” Bumblebee began, noticing how curiously the scientist was staring at him “My Bumblebee, your face is practically glowing red. Did something happen?” the moment Perceptor stopped speaking; Bumblebee snorted in surprise and looked to his feet. Spike folded his arms and glared at Bumblebee “Tell him Bee, tell him how rude those two were to us—” the human was cut short by Optimus Prime entering the room, dusting himself off “Who was being rude to you both?” Optimus Prime asked, turning to Perceptor who in return just shrugged.   
Bumblebee finally sucked in a heave of air and relaxed before ‘manning-up’ to tell the two what he saw “Me and Spike found Starscream and Solarflare alright...” the Scout began, catching his Leaders interest the most so far “...and they where...”Bumblebee pace-palmed as he felt himself blush again “I have a strange feeling that the reason you’re failing to tell us what you saw is a result of chemicals in your processor. Try sitting down Bumblebee and see if that helps.”Perceptor suggested, escorting the Scout to a seat before sitting beside him.  
“Now, what did you see them doing?” Bumblebee shuddered for a moment; still looking at his feet “...they were...mating...”   
“—WHAT?!” the scientist and Optimus Prime cried in unison “They were together, above the Ark...Fusing...and had been for an hour...”   
Perceptor chuckled before rubbing his chin, whistling to his fellow scientists, along with Inferno and Red Alert, to gather from their stations outside the lab as Optimus Prime just remained motionless, unsure of how to respond to the situation for a moment “what the fuck do you want Perceptor, I was busy tweaking Grimlocks transformer circuits!” Wheeljack whined, trailing behind Red Alert, Inferno and Ratchet “We have a very rare opportunity here, Bumblebee has informed me we have a Decepticon pair outside engaging in bonding cyber organic substances together.” Wheeljack remained silent, as only Ratchet seemed to understand the whole thing completely “what in Cybertron are you talking about, Perceptor?! Who’s doing what with what items?”   
Ratchet sighed and turned to face Wheeljack “In your language; we have two Decepticons upstairs breeding, we should probably catch the female before she leaves.”   
Perceptor nodded and raided his workspace for tools “Capturing her right now would not be a good idea; Starscream would likely be aggressive in protecting her. We should wait until he’s exhausted himself.” The scientist informed, revealing a net before tossing it aside “If we could somehow ground her, we’d stand a better chance of bringing her in for study. But a net would be useless, and attempting to disable her engines would likely damage the young. So Wheeljack, I’m trusting in you to come up with a trapping mechanism quickly and meet me and Red Alert outside. Inferno, Ratchet; prepare the table for either our female specimen or her mate should she escape. Either way this goes, Starscream will be exhausted and will need resting.” Perceptor instructed, receiving a nod from all but Wheeljack “I’m not taking orders from you; I only do what Optimus Prime says.” Wheeljack growled, until said Leader decided to turn to him and stare.   
“Do what Perceptor says; we cannot afford a Decepticon Breeder to return to headquarters and increase their forces population. We can make use of Solarflare as a study subject until we can find a way to prevent her from producing anymore Decepticon soldiers.” He explained, receiving an annoyed groan from Wheeljack who was forced to cooperate. Bumblebee was still blushing in his seat, whilst Spike waved to Perceptor “I still don’t understand exactly what Starscream and Solarflare were up to outside, can you explain it to me?” the humanoid asked, earning a chuckle from all the Autobots but Wheeljack and Bumblebee.   
Inferno approached the human and knelt to him, resting his hand next to him as if requesting he’d like to talk without having to kneel “I’ll tell you everything, Red Alert and Perceptor have a job to do.” The fire truck volunteered, allowing Spike to crawl into his hand before beginning his explanations as he wandered around the lab.   
Red Alert nodded to Perceptor before the duo began to head outside to keep a close watch on where Solarflare would go should he escape before Wheeljack finishes a trap, leaving Optimus to talk to Bumblebee and Ratchet to prepare the laboratory.  
  
“Screamer...ugh...I can’t stay much longer...AGH!” back up on the cliff, Starscream had become entirely focused on giving his mate everything he had, and had forgotten that the Triple-Changer would have to return to base sooner or later otherwise Megatron might end up suspecting something.   
Solarflares information was ignored, as was his cries of pain as his partner started to become rough with him. The Triple-Changer had only himself to blame, for he requested his partner to take him faster or harder to speed up the conception process; unfortunately this meant Starscream slowly slipped from conscious love-related mating to natural, aggressive, mating behaviour. He didn’t even talk back to his SparkMate, and just groaned as he forced himself to advance as hard or as fast as he could take.   
“AGH! Screamer—stop—it--it hurts!” the scientist groaned, squeezing his mates shoulders as the Fusion continued without seemingly any end “Please—stop—STOP!” the cries were left unheard by the Seeker, however Perceptor and Red Alert heard them, and began suspecting.   
“It sounds to me like we have a problem here.” Perceptor announced climbing onto the Cliff with Red Alert trailing behind very shyly; Solarflare gasped and tried to force himself from his partner, who had not even noticed the Autobots presence, only to receive much harder thrusts as some form of punishment, causing him to moan in agony “Red, hand me a strong dosage of sedative quickly. Starscream appears to be stuck in Fusion Drive and is causing discomfort to his partner.” Perceptor placed his hand behind him awaiting the dosage of sedative, but Red Alert had become entranced in what he was seeing and hearing that he didn’t notice the scientists’ request.   
“Red, the sedative.” Perceptor asked again in a much more demanding tone; but he still got nothing. The scientist sighed before turning to Red Alert, who was indeed entranced by what he was currently observing.   
“Protruding blush, twitchy hands, weak knees, glowing cavity...my, my Red...I believe you’ve been stimulated by this. Perhaps bringing you along was not a good idea.” Perceptor analysed, snapping his fingers in front of Red Alert to catch his attention “Um...sorry Perceptor...I...” the security director sighed, and realising what had come over him face-palmed to hide his blush “Don’t apologise, you’re not a scientist. Now hand me the strong dose of the sedative, otherwise Starscream could cripple his own mate.”   
Red Alert nodded and raided the side bag containing the medication for the sedative, until finding the largest dosage available of it before handing it to Perceptor “Thank you Red, feel free to stay or leave...however I will require some form of backup as this should bring Starscream out of his trance, which means he’ll turn on me in an instant.” The scientist informed, receiving a shy nod from Red Alert before approaching the pair.   
Solarflare groaned and attempted to free himself from his lover, only to feel himself be pinned against the wall harder. The Triple-Changer noticed Perceptor approach them, and widened his eyes as if crying out for assistance “Remain calm Solarflare, this should help fix this problem.” The scientist informed before injecting the sedative directly into Starscream neck, causing the Seeker to scream in agony and turn on Perceptor in rage. Thankfully Red Alert had stayed, and was ready to shoot Starscream in the shoulder before he could hurt Perceptor.   
“Good work Red, now help me bring down the pair to the laboratory.” The scientist began, kneeling down to the exhausted Solarflare “Are your legs still functioning?” he asked softly to the Triple-Changer, who panted heavily to recover from the moment of pain he just experienced “..N...no...” he answered weakly, allowing Perceptor to touch and observe his legs “Oh it appears to have been a result of numbness, most likely caused by overly-aggressive mating. You won’t be able to walk again for a few hours, perhaps even a day.” He hummed, noticing the also exhausted Starscream being dragged down to the Ark by Red Alert.   
“...it wasn’t his...fault...” Solarflare panted, receiving a pat on the head from Perceptor “but...you’re an Autobot...you shouldn’t...care...” he added “It seems there is a use to this ‘Bond’ of yours then, Solarflare. If it wasn’t for it, I doubt I’d have intervened. It was a good thing I stopped him when I did, as if my deductions are correct he could have kept that pace up for another twenty minutes, which could have destroyed your Fusion Cavity and your legs.” The scientist explained, picking up the exhausted Decepticon “You know...that Bond was...accidental...” he panted wearily as Perceptor carried him back to the Ark “Certainly, but that doesn’t mean it is entirely useless.” The scientists talked calmly as the weakened Decepticon was finally brought back inside the Ark and set on a repair Table alongside his unconscious partner within the laboratory.  
  
“Starscream was still fuelled in Fusion Drive and tried to kill Ratchet, we had to sedate him again.” Inferno informed as the Hermaphrodite was laid on the table “Should I sedate Solarflare as a precaution?” Inferno asked, looking down at the very weak looking Decepticon “Not necessary, Inferno. Solarflare has no functioning legs right now, and it’s usually the males who are the most aggressive at this point...you should know that after all, you have a SparkMate back on Cybertron.” Perceptor explained, receiving a feint blush from inferno “Yeah but...you know that the Decepticons behave differently...”   
Red Alert looked to Inferno and nudged him to give Starscream more sedative, just to be on the safe side “Red, if we gave him anymore it would likely cause him to enter Stasis Lock. Oh and Perceptor, I’ll go get Optimus to have a little chat with Solarflare here.” Inferno informed, turning to leave the room to fetch Optimus Prime and tell him the news, being clung to by his paranoid friend along the way.   
“Well now, how did Solarflare lose the ability to use her legs?” Ratchet questioned, receiving a heavy hiss from said Decepticon “HIS. Don’t call me HER.” The scientist growled as Perceptor began to ease the pain in his frame caused by that overly-passionate breeding “Sorry to bring up this matter Solarflare, but your body is technically sixty point four percent female. That by default makes you female colloquially.” Perceptor informed, receiving a growl from the Decepticon “Even the Decepticons respect my wish, they call me HE.”   
Ratchet folds his arms and observes the twitchy nature of Wheeljack, who was stood remarkably far away from the tables “I take it that Megatron still calls you ‘she’, being the leader and everything.” Perceptor hummed, hearing his Decepticon patient grunt “I thought so. We by default respect the female breed and don’t think they should be ashamed to-”  
“—I’m not female, I’m male.” The Triple-Changer hissed, before proceeding to roll from side to side “You’re actually a hermaphrodite; so would you feel better if I called you ‘hir’?” Perceptor asked, forcing his patient to stop rolling “And as tempted as you are to help the Solder find and bond with your Unitron, you’re not permitted to move in that manner.” He added, gaining a slap from Solarflare who attempted to get up.   
“I’m not an Autobot, I’ll do whatever I damn well want.” He hissed.   
Wheeljack growled and approached the table, before slamming the Triple-Changer back down “Yeah, you’re a freaking Decepticon Breeder, you have no damn logic. You just care about getting fucked by your damn cousin and having his young!” the inventor yelled, keeping the triple-changer pinned to the table to stop him from rolling or getting up “You mean...you’re related to Starscream?” Ratchet questioned, looking awe-struck.   
“It’s only five percent. And I’m not a Breeder, I’m a scientist! Oh yeah, and another thing, I’d rather be fucked by my cousin than Megatron! Do you know how horrific it is to be working on something one minute, then finding yourself on the receiving end of his monstrous frame the next?!” Wheeljack eased his grip on Solarflare, who began to become greatly displeased. The three scientists stared in awe at Solarflare, who proceeded to try rolling again “Yeah, Megatron fucks my brains out! All because he’s after a damn army! At least Starscream _loves_ me!” he rasped, pulling himself loose from Wheeljack and finally being able to roll again.   
“It looked like he was on instinctive drive up on the cliff to me, I wouldn’t call that love.” Perceptor judged, poking Solarflare on the forehead “Stop inducing fertilisation please.”  
Optimus Prime, along with Spike and Red Alert, entered the laboratory just as Perceptor had requested his patient to cease his attempts at assisting his fertilisation “Perceptor, does this mean?” the Autobot leader questioned, approaching the table “Yes Optimus, Starscream was indeed mating with Solarflare.”   
The triple-changer hissed “It’s not mating! It’s called Fusing!” he rasped, attempting to roll again only to have his waist restrained against the table by Red Alert “Thank you Red; now to start with Solarflare, the technical term is _mating_ , Starscream was _not_ making love to you up there, you _are a hermaphrodite_ and not just male and also please prevent yourself from trying to speed up the fertilising process.” Red Alert blushed upon hearing Perceptor lecture the Decepticon, remembering the scenes he saw up on the Cliff and locking up again in tension “What’s wrong with Red?” Spike asked, nudging the security directors’ foot and gaining no response.   
“Oh, Red was stimulated by what he saw and heard. Just leave him to his thoughts, even if they are likely going to be naughty ones.” Perceptor chuckled, receiving a blush from Solarflare also “You mean...he saw?” Solarflare gawked “Oh yes, he was most pleased by what he saw and especially what he heard.” The microscope teased, tickling the Decepticons abdomen causing him to laugh and open his Fusion Cavity “Good Herm, now I can assess any damage and get samples. Relax and try not to move too much.” The scientist hummed as he began working on the Cavity, much to Solarflares great disliking.   
“Perceptor, what happened to Starscream?” Optimus Prime asked, approaching the unconscious Seeker “Oh, Starscream became stuck in Fusion Drive and we had to sedate him to save his SparkMate and to prevent him from killing Ratchet.” The scientist informed, taking samples of the un-bonded contents within Solarflare “When will I be able to communicate with him?” the Autobot Leader asked, watching as Perceptor worked with Wheeljack hovering over his shoulder to receive the samples.   
“I wouldn’t think he’d be in the mood to talk to us for a few days as he’d be more focused on courting Solarflare if shi was with us, but since shi is not, Starscream would rather be left alone to practice courting should he have a second session with his partner.”   
Wheeljack placed the samples on a nearby desk, and assisted Perceptor in studying them through his Microscope form. Solarflare turned his head to watch the two scientists carefully, finally being able to close his Fusion Cavity again. He had a defence should they decide to ‘eliminate’ the brewing young, but it was a risky move that would likely damage his generator. It was a last resort that so far was not needed, but the option of a damaged generator or failing to fuse the materials within him to produce young was really easy to choose.   
He’d choose the young each time if they belonged to Starscream or Soundwave “This is why I asked hir not to roll around like that, some of these samples already have started fusing.” Perceptor groaned.   
Solarflare smiled softly as he heard Wheeljack whine about it ‘being wrong’ for the pair to produce offspring when they were related, and eased his mind. Although the mating was painful towards the end, it did its job; he had successfully conceived for Starscream, and he would defend the fused materials with his life until he and Starscream could raise the young together.   
The triple-changer exhaled as he once again attempted to roll, but the restraint around his waist prevented him from doing so. Then under the debating scientists voices he heard his lover breathing; a soft and gentle slumbering male, who was shown as quite the opposite when awake. The triple-changer couldn’t help but turn to look at his snoozing SparkMate, stretching out his hand to touch him on the shoulder, but the restraint on him meant he was just an inch away from being able to make contact.   
How he desired to lie across his lover, wrapped in his security, knowing that the young he was carrying would be protected valiantly by the charming and passionate Seeker. Through that cowardice on the battlefield Solarflare knew that when it came to his lineage, Starscream would fight even to the stage of being crippled to ensure the survival of his future Hatchlings. For when they did hatch, they grew quick; and fast growing young means capable fighters sooner being available to assist him, or more medical arms being available to heal his wounds, or scientists to create better weapons and armour.   
The triple-Changer purred, closing his eyes as he placed his hand on his Fusion Cavity, wondering what types of young would hatch from their efforts. Would they be fighters? Scientists? Would they be triple-changers or just normal Cybertronians? He couldn’t wait to see them start coming into the world; giving them their names by personality observations, their Energon as they grow, teaching them to fly should they be hatched as Seekers...he looked forward to every moment of parenthood, and to make things better some of Soundwaves young had survived both Starscreams instinctive extermination and Megatrons brutality.   
So he’d have both of them, both of their Hatchlings, the big family he wanted right from the dot; right after killing his own creator.   
“I say we take out the Fusion Cavity right now!” Wheeljack growled, shoving Perceptor who was now in robot mode “And I say that such an act is unnecessary! You heard hir; shi doesn’t want to be a breeder for an army! Which means shi is mating to have a family! Removing the Cavity would rob hir of that right!” Perceptor hissed, stuttering backwards as Wheeljack continued to bully him “For all you know, the bitch could be lying!” he began with a growl “I say the Fusion Cavity goes, along with the potential problem of the ‘little troopers’!”   
Optimus Prime folded his arms and stared at the two, wondering if Wheeljack was right. But destroying Solarflares Fusion Cavity would kill the young brewing within it, which meant life would be denied to them. A thing the Autobots swore to when they took that oath of loyalty _‘Life is the right of all sentient beings.’_ But this was a Decepticon, and a very powerful one. Not in body was Solarflare strongest; it was his mind, his speed and his Solar-producing Generator. If he was kept under Decepticon use the young would be without a limit to Energon, they’d likely be as intelligent as both him and his SparkMate which would create problems. But to deny Solarflare the right to produce young would be a crime.   
“Optimus, you agree with me don’t you?! The cavity has to go, right?” Wheeljack asked, turning to the Autobot Leader who was now staring at Solarflares calm and dreamy behaviour “...no Wheeljack, I don’t agree. The Cavity stays where it is.” The Leader answered slightly delayed, still watching the hermaphrodite “What?! But that little bitch could give Megatron—”  
“—Life is the right to all sentient beings. You know that oath you swore to, and Megatron would never allow Starscream to mate with a Breeder if he is exiled.” Wheeljack lowered his head as Perceptor clapped “Well put, Optimus! What do you suggest we do?” the scientist asked. Optimus Prime approached Solarflare and placed his hands on both sides of the table, leaning over to stare at the triple-changer directly “Solarflare stays here, under our watch, until I say otherwise—”  
Alarms sounded; it was a sound so sharp that it caused the shriek of Solarflare to even awaken Starscream, who was not at all pleased to find his SparkMate restrained.   
“Flare! Fly like your life depends on it!” Starscream screamed, breaking the restraint before Perceptor and Wheeljack could restrain HIM. The triple-changer groaned, forcing Ratchet from him as he made his escape, running as his SparkMate cried for him to get away faster.   
_“Target locked. FIRE.”_ __  
  



	9. Unity for Prosperity

 

“Prepare to fire on my command, Decepticons!” Megatron bellowed, shooting his Fusion Cannon at the Ark in blind fury “Rescue Eclipse, bring back Solarflare in any state and kill Starscream! You have your orders, show no mercy! ATTACK!” the tyrant roared, waving for his forces to begin their assault. Gunfire sparked from all corners, on both Autobot and Decepticon fronts, with the escaping Solarflare trying with all his might to avoid being shot in the chaos.  
The Triple-Changer ducked behind a boulder and sheltered his head in his arms before muttering to himself over how stupid the fighting was getting “This is so stupid...so damn stupid...” he muttered, ducking lower after narrowly being missed from a shot.  
He heard Megatron shout his orders, how the tyrant didn’t even care about his condition anymore; it made him sick. In his mind he wanted to see Megatron lie dead under his feet, but in his Spark he didn’t want anything ill-fated to happen to any of his SparkMates, even the one who he hated the most. It didn’t matter that Megatron hacked him, raped him, saw him as nothing but a breeder; he had a bond with him, even if it was a bad one.  
Any bond Solarflare makes is cherished by him, and Megatron had things that made Solarflare appreciate his bond...even if they where remote, or could easily be replaced by one of his other SparkMates.  
For a start Megatron was the alpha; he was strong, a leader and big. Very, very big! If he wasn’t such a Slimeball maybe Solarflare would be more open with him, but no. His ego is just as big as his size. It was that ego that the Triple-Changer despised the most about him.  
“Bruticus, plant the bomb!” he heard Megatron shout, followed by the thumping footsteps of the Combaticon combiner alongside the frantic screams from the Autobots as their base was invaded. The giant passed within inches of Solarflare without seeing him and for a moment it gave him an idea, a cunning idea, to preserve his brewing young and those that would soon hatch; hide away from the Decepticons, hide from the Autobots, hide from Megatron.  
There was an empty warehouse in Denver, Colorado, that had an underground storage facility which would be perfect for hiding his young and would prove valuable in bait-hunting. If only he could somehow get away from this battle without being detected...  
  
“DETONATE!” boomed the tyrant, as Bruticus stormed his way out of the Ark dragging Eclipse behind him. The bombs explosion was fierce, and the shockwave from the blast sent even Bruticus from his feet. Eclipse was hit worst by the explosion and he found himself catapulted into the on-going fire from his Decepticon brothers, and to make matters worse it seems the explosion damaged his engine rendering him immobile “Hold your fire! Get Eclipse back to the base for repairs!” Megatron ordered, observing as Thundercracker and Skywarp rescued the badly damaged Triple-Changer and carried him off.  
 “Now find Solarflare and bring her back to the base, I don’t care what condition she’s in! Just make sure she’s alive!” this was it, the moment Solarflare had to either make or break his escape. It would be six hellish months before he’d be able to even consider returning to the Decepticons, so failure here could easily result in Starscreams efforts being wasted.  
The explosion had left a cloud of dust which cut a majority of the Decepticons sight off, but taking off in jet mode would attract attention. He had to be crafty, keep himself hidden long enough for the Autobots to push off the Decepticons. Thankfully his waiting in the dust cloud was short with the arrival of the Aerialbots, who began making short work of the remaining forces as their individual units and as their combined form Superion.  
As the remaining Decepticons fled, Solarflare edged himself behind a secure spot to depart and awaited the Autobots to take their leave back into their base.  
“Ratchet, report on the damage caused by the bomb.” Optimus Prime requested, turning to his science crew “Minor damage to the left wings, but major damage to the main support structure. Wheeljack and Inferno have already rallied a team and have begun repairs.”  
The Autobot Leader scouted around him at his comrades, seeing them battered and bruised or being repaired by Spike and Sparkplug “The humans are safe, but what about Starscream, Solarflare and Eclipse? What happened to them?”  
Perceptor rubbed the back of his helmet before waving Optimus Prime to him “Yes Perceptor, what do you have to report?” the Leader asked, taking observation of a heavily damaged Starscream sat behind Perceptor “Eclipse and Solarflare escaped, as for Starscream he got caught up in the explosion. He’s lucky to still be in one piece.”  
The Autobot Leader folded his arms and approached the badly wounded ex-Decepticon “Optimus, we know all too well Megatron did not come here for Starscream or any information. He came for Eclipse.” Perceptor informed, watching as his Leader drew his gun “Destroying Starscream would benefit no one.” He added.  
The Autobot Leader turned to Perceptor and nodded before returning his gaze and his aim on the damaged ex-Decepticon “Starscream, I believe you did miss your SparkMate...but they’re a Decepticon, so how can I be certain that they did not use you to prepare for this rescue?” he began “You have no place in the Decepticons anymore, that I am certain of. But how can any of us be certain that you’re not being used by them to weaken us? Ever since you joined us you’ve caused more problems than if you were still with them; so explain a course of action you are willing to take, or I’ll be forced to make one for you.”  
The Seeker weakly looked up at Optimus Prime; his vision was failing, his hearing was poor. He may be a garbage pile right now, but so long as his mate escaped unharmed it was all worth it. But even now he was faced with being turned away by the Autobots, and would truly become an outsider...an outcast...hated by everyone, liked by no one. He’d be his own worst enemy and his only true friend, next to Solarflare of course.  
If he attempted to attack, or said his words wrong, he was certain the Autobot Leader would shoot him on the spot. Fleeing and cursing would likely result in him being tracked down later whilst he repaired himself before being terminated. But if he remained silent, what would Optimus do? Would he shoot him, let him go, or repair him and accept him? In the back of Starscreams mind he sensed his logic circuits return to full strength, and he grinned. Finally his Fusion Drive had subsided and allowed the devious little monster to resurface.  
“Well Starscream? What will you do?” Optimus Prime asked again, loading his gun “Nothing.” The battered jet coughed, clearing leaking Energon from his mouth “You’re going to remain stationary here, and hope your SparkMate will return to help?” the Autobot Leader questioned, lowering his weapon.  
“No. I’m going to leave, repair and then do nothing at all. I have no place; I have no tasks to do. My work was done _half an hour_ ago with Flare. I can finally just sit down and do nothing.” He answered bitterly, getting to his feet and stumbling backwards into the rocky wall he was sat against. Perceptor rushed to the Seeker and offered support, but was pushed away by the ex-Decepticon “Don’t help me; I don’t need the Autobots or the Decepticons!” Starscream hissed as he limped his way from the Autobot hordes “Everyone has something or someone they need, Starscream. At least let us repair you.” Perceptor sighed, watching the frail looking Seeker fail to start his thrusters.  
He continued to try and transform into jet mode, but the pain was so astounding that even the attempts resulted in sheer agony. Using the thrusters on their own required more energy and it was something he couldn’t afford to waste right now. It was either toughing out the pain of transforming or walking the whole distance to wherever the wind happened to take him “I just need...Flare...nothing else matters to me right now.” He groaned, finally achieving his jet mode and firing his thrusters effectively this time “With any luck, you won’t see me ever again.” He growled as he began take-off, bolting up and into the sky leaving a trail of smoke behind him from his damaged frame.  
Perceptor and Jetfire cried out for him to come back, but Optimus Prime shook his head and turned to face the other members of his group and began giving them orders in repairing the base.  
“He always blows things out of proportions...” Perceptor sighed as Jetfire continued to shout out to his fleeing friend to return and reconsider his thoughts, all in vain as Starscream had most certainly blasted out of sound reception.  
Solarflare watched as his injured SparkMate took off from the site, in the opposite direction to where he was heading, before taking his own leave to begin preparations for his new sanctuary.  
  
The Warehouse was a perfect place to hide in; outside it was totally abandoned and had plenty of space for the young to practice in without being seen, and inside it was dark and had a great amount of secluded areas for himself to hide within for those sneak-attacks on any who dared trespass. The upper level would remain untouched, to keep the ruse that this warehouse was abandoned and hosted nothing but Solarflares resting quarters.  
The lower levels, the ones underground, would be the real sanctuary. A broken elevator was the only way in and out from the facility, which was a quick jump up for Solarflare but a very long climb for small pests and any Sparklings that decided to explore without his watch.  
Some cleanup was required before the underground facility could host the young, for a start the door leading into the soon-to-be nursery would need reinforcing and the walls to his private chambers would need repairing and possibly sound-proofing. The last thing he wanted was to be rudely disturbed by the screams of his young as he repaired himself, or for them to be mentally disturbed by anything they heard going on inside their mothers’ chamber.  
  
Cleanup was simple and took less than a day; all the scrap metal and junk was hauled to the smallest room in the underground facility to be used later as building materials, the walls were fixed with little effort as were the floors, windows were sealed with wooden planks, pesky rodents and other unwelcomed guests were either terminated or chased away, but the doors needed sorting as did the soundproofing.  
Solarflare admitted he’d need help from Soundwave for that, but if Starscream was around he could easily help make the reinforced doors and provide extra protection from any unwelcome guests. So his next move was to lure his partners back to him, without gaining the attention of the Decepticons. How could he possibly do that when the planet was crawling with them, and without using his distress signal? Easy; his telepathy was the answer.  
He had to relax in the open and meditate to find his partners and then send them messages, before displaying signs to help them locate him better. An easy sign to display would be a flare, but that would likely attract attention from any other Transformers in the area. It had to be something only his mates would understand, and that would look perfectly normal to all else.  
Solarflare hauled himself out of the warehouse after finishing cleanup and repairs, steadily making his way to the roof of the structure to attempt his communications; he calmly sat on the middle of the roof and began meditating, scanning the signals he sensed in search for Starscream or Soundwave. Solarflare knew he could be up on the roof scanning for hours and could still find nothing, but if he tried frequently he was certain to find one of them, just like they frequently had to court him to successfully breed.  
But the only signals he was detecting were from Autobots or Human Technology, it seemed he could easily be overcome by the alien signals which in turn hindered his own search.  
Over the two hours of searching, Solarflare sighed and began to wonder if this was really a good idea. He couldn’t raise the young without knowing they were safe, and the presence of one of the fathers would be vital if he was to live outside the Decepticons for a long time. He’d need to not only gather Solar Energy to keep himself charged, but he’d need to find extra sources of power so he could provide his young with their own.  
Without one of the SparkMates being around the young would be left to fend for themselves as their mother searched for necessities for not only him but for their own needs as well. And now that he’d thought about it, he’d be able to make the young stronger if he found supplements of oil and metal ores. It was one thing for them to grow up to become stronger, but if Solarflare could ensure they were strong when hatched then things would likely go smoother.  
He wondered to himself as he continued his signal searching, scanning for even the faintest trace of his partners; who would he find first? He hoped it would be Soundwave, so he could bring the soon-to-be Sparklings to him quickly. It was a well known fact from his logic circuits that the young had to come into contact with either their birth father or their mother in order to trigger their Spark, and Solarflare had to ensure the first being they see is him or their father after one week of the young hatching.  
The first things they touch see and hear help set their circuits to being Decepticons and not Autobots and fire their Spark. If they didn’t; their alliance could turn out wrong (turn into Autobots), they could become ‘corrupted’ (mentally unstable), be susceptible to system failure (IE. Premature Death) and in the worst case they could end up not knowing what they really are. The last two problems are what Solarflare feared the most, especially the last one.  
A Cybertronian not knowing what they are and believing that they are something else spells disaster for them; they wouldn’t accept Energon which would cause them to shut down after a while and they’d make friends with _the wrong creatures_. This was why it was vital Soundwave was brought to him first. And amongst the shreds of Human ‘noise’ he heard it; Soundwaves signal.  
It seemed he was also trying to establish communications without attracting attention, could it be that he was aware of his SparkMates intentions to hide from the threats that were posed to his young?  
_“Flare, it’s good to hear you’re safe. Where are you? Are you held captured?”_  He asked, receiving a chuckle from the Triple-Changer “I’m fine. I’m hiding from Megatron and the other Decepticons” Solarflare continued “Can you bring me the young? I’ll be displaying on top of a warehouse in the Colorado state, sending you my coordinates would be risky if this telepathic transmission happened to be monitored.”  
Soundwave hummed before chuckling to his partner _“You’re forgetting; I’m in charge of communications, I could easily scramble all other signals.”_ The pair remained silent, as Solarflare thought through his plans and considered sending his mate his coordinates. But the risk would be too great, even through the reassurance of Soundwave scrambling other signals.  
The blue Decepticon coughed and began to sound rather impatient, when Solarflare broke the silence “Wave...I’m carrying again.”  
The Chief of Communications grunted as a response.  
“What? What did I do now?” Soundwave grunted again before speaking when it became apparent Solarflare wasn’t getting the picture _“Even after he killed our Hatchlings, you still fused with him. It’s leaving a bad taste in my receptors.”  
_ Solarflare let out a gentle “oh” as a response, but didn’t say anything else.  
_“No, I’m not jealous of him. I know I’m better than he could ever be. I just don’t trust him; which is why I’m not letting him set foot near you ever again.”_ Flare’s little bubble of silence immediately burst“I beg of you, don’t take it hard! I’m doing exactly as you told me before I carried for you; the plan goes ahead!”  
Soundwave groaned before making his response _“...He didn’t hurt you in any way did he? To make you suddenly change your mind? Because not too long ago you where pacing around cursing that you hated Starscream and didn’t care about what happened to him anymore. Why the sudden change?”  
_ Solarflare thought for a few moments in silence, thinking about what Soundwave just told him; why did he change his mind? Could it have been instinct or possibly a glitch in his circuitry? He didn’t know and he didn’t care about it anymore; he was willing to forgive Starscream for everything he did if he proved he cared. Cared for him, his young regardless of who the father was and most importantly; his honour.  
The first thing to be set up in this family was a code of honour. No excuses, no exceptions. He wasn’t going to tell his mates about ‘The Code’ until they both agreed to stop fighting one another.  
“I guess I’m willing to forgive if he learns his lesson. I’m certain that not every single Hatchling will survive, that’s why I produce so many. So I’m putting my trust in him witnessing the pain of losing his children, and understanding how much it hurt us both.”  
Soundwave muttered to himself, obviously not at all convinced _“This is because I can’t satisfy you, isn’t it? It’s not about loving him; it’s about him being more productive than me with you.”_  
“NO! Get that thought out of your circuitry! I love you both, so very much...”  
Soundwave growled _“Then prove it. Do something for us both; me and Starscream. You should start thinking about making your choice over which of us you’re keeping, and which can bite the scrap, before one of us does something...regrettable to the other.”_ Solarflare gawked at Soundwaves response; he had implied that even though they’d both be willing to accept one another’s young eventually, they wouldn’t accept each other. This meant that they’d still try to kill each other to be the sole possessor of their mate, unless he became creative and was willing to give them a...different way of competing.  
A slither of giggles escaped from Solarflares grin, which made Soundwave hum in curiosity “Wave...I’ve my own ideas on how you two can vent your competitive nature. Don’t worry about it.” He purred, receiving a heavy sigh from his partner _“...I like the tone you’re using. So you win this one. I’ll be with the young within the hour. Just tell me a clue to where you are and I’ll leave right away.”_ Solarflare sighed with relief, before thinking for a moment about the Denver area and what Soundwave would easily recognise as iconic to the City, when it hit him.  
“Think...The Rockies.” He chuckled, hearing his SparkMate awe _“Baseball. Only you would know about that. Why couldn’t you pick the Red Socks...”  
_ Solarflare chuckled again “This area is very secure, but after a year here I’ll move the Sparklings into the mountains for extra protection until you and Starscream deal with Megatron. New England didn’t have the huge mountains, and we’re in the mainland and not by any water.” The Communication Decepticon hummed before muttering to himself about Solarflare coming up with silly excuses, only to be growled at by said SparkMate.  
“Screamer won’t get his Angels, you don’t get your Red Socks and I don’t get my Diamondbacks. We all lose, only Astrotrain wins this one and he won’t even be here! So stop complaining!” The blue Decepticon pouted as a response only to be further shouted at by his chemical mate “We can always hack a Satellite you know!”  
Again, the Chief of Communications was not fully impressed. But he agreed to fetch the soon-to-be Sparklings and bring them to his mate anyway, for he knew that what Solarflare had chosen was the best option for both of them and their young _“Give me one hour to get them, and another three hours to reach you.”_ Soundwave informed, pausing for a moment before exhaling _“...I can’t wait to see you again.”_    
Solarflare purred “And?”  
_“And what?”  
_ “Don’t you have something else to say to me?”  
_“...if I say it now you won’t look forward to hearing me say it when I get to you.”  
_ Solarflare chuckled “Hahaha...okay, come over here then Dear and I’ll surprise you too.”  
Soundwave purred before muttering something and cutting the connection. _  
_  
Within the hour Soundwave had fetched the last four pods from that huge batch they started with, and following the hints Solarflare gave to him along with the signs of sunlight reflecting from his panels, appearing as nothing more than slightly bluish sun rays breaking through clouds. Only Soundwave and Starscream would recognise a sign by Solarflare from a normal ray of light, and this blue-like ray would be ignored by all else.  
A sleek glide down to the base of the Warehouse was enough to allow Solarflare to rush his partner and receive his young “You came not a minute out of time, as always you fail to disappoint.” The Triple-Changer chuckled as Soundwave handed him two of the four pods, purring as his partner lowered his faceplate and nuzzled him “Failure is not an option for me, dear.” The blue Decepticon purred, before following his partner into the warehouse and down to the hidden sanctuary.  
Inside they hung the Hatchlings from the ceiling, and Solarflare began placing baiting hooks around them “...you’re baiting the young out early? Why?” Soundwave asked, hovering behind his SparkMate who grinned deviously “The sooner they’re able to walk, the safer they’ll be around their other father. Starscream is too lazy to chase after young no matter who they belong to.”  
Solarflare finished preparing the pods baiting hooks and turned to the door “This needs reinforcing before they can walk; otherwise they could get outside and cause a lot of grief for us. I’m hoping Screamer can help with it.” Soundwave groaned as he followed his frantic partner, trailing around aimlessly ensuring everything was fixed correctly or in the right place, until they reached the soon to be resting chamber.  
“...you’re kidding with me, right Flare? We’re not sharing this space with him.” Soundwave pouted taking notice of the immediate look of everything in threes, not twos like he was hoping “I’m not kidding, Wave.” Solarflare began “Screamer is going to be with us from start to finish until you both fix our problem.”  
Soundwave groaned and began pacing with his hands on his head, before pouting again “You know all too well he’ll cut my circuitry to pieces whilst I go offline, he wants you to himself.” Solarflare chuckled before approaching his SparkMate and placing his hands on his partners abdomen “And don’t you too?” the Triple-Changer purred “Of course I do, I love you Flare. He doesn’t; he just wants your Fusion Cavity.”  
Solarflare rolled his eyes before tickling his partner, forcing him to blush and hold back laughter “He loves me too, he’s just more playful than you!” the Triple-Changer teased, ceasing his tickling “I can be playful too you know, I’ll prove it.”  
Solarflare narrowed his eyes and licked his lips, which caused Soundwave to tilt his head from curiosity. He knew all too well his partner wasn’t thinking of Fusion right now, as that would destroy Starscreams efforts along with ‘the plan’ they have going on. So the blue Decepticon was well and truly curios to find out what was on his mates mind to make him give one of his flirty looks.  
“Alright, Wave...don’t you want to hear the game I have planned?” he teased “you’ll love it.” The Chief of Communications scratched his head a few moments as his partner kept his hands on his abdomen, and stared at him seductively.  
Was he so sure he wanted to find out what was on Flare’s mind; his devious, dirty, little mind of genius?  
Yes. Yes he was.  
“Alright dear, tell me this game. I promise I’ll try to play it to your rules.” He purred, caressing the hermaphrodite lovingly “Wonderful, you’re going to love this...it involves a lot of noise, so I’m requesting you to soundproof this room.” Soundwave grinned, so far pleased with where this game was going “From that look Wave, I guess you’ll work on that right away.” Again the grin grew slyly, before changing into a low laugh when his partner had forced him against the wall.  
“So here are the rules...number one, when I say stop you stop.” Soundwave nodded as his partner began caressing his pinned frame “number two, no attacking the other players. The game is about noise and positive emotions, anything negative and I’ll start shooting the players.” Solarflare continued, exhaling heavily before speaking “number three, even when you offload you have no excuse to stop. The game ends when both players become exhausted, or when I say stop.”  
Suddenly, Soundwave began to suspect where the game was going, but did not protest as he promised beforehand that he’d try to play this game to Solarflares rules and desires “and you’ve guessed it, number four. The one facing me is a first-come first-serve; the second player must be behind if another player is up front. Got it memorised?” the triple-changer hummed.  
“...you basically suggested a threesome...as a game...with rules...” Soundwave chuckled and grinned back to his partner “...you’re a devious little bastard, you know that?”  
Solarflare exhaled as he forced Soundwaves Fusion Cavity doors open “You know you love it.” He purred, trailing down to his knees “Flare; how will you encourage the ‘other player’ to follow the rules of this little game?” Soundwave chuckled, exhaling as he felt his partner tease him and his cavity “Just like I did with you, he’ll love it when he tries it.” Soundwave purred as his mate began licking his cavity, to entice him to start a different kind of game “Flare, you have no idea how much I respect you...and love you...” the blue Decepticon placed a hand on top of his SparkMates helmet “...I’m not Starscream, you don’t have to do that.”  
Solarflare groaned, obviously not entirely satisfied “Wave, I wanted to do it for fun.” He pouted “And I say we should play your games somewhere else, after we finish here.” Solarflare widened his eyes and began pleading his ‘master’ to give in to him, which did nothing but agitate Soundwave into wanting to start working now “Later Flare, I’ve got a room to soundproof. Why don’t you try calling for Starscream?”  
The scientist pouted again as his SparkMate casually closed his cavity doors and began working, before getting to his feet and strolling outside “Yeah, sure...Screamer would want to play right away...he’s always in the mood...” Soundwave turned to the doorway and shouted to his departing partner “That’s because he’s got nothing else to think about now!”  
  
Outside, Solarflare groaned and began scanning again for Starscream. But it seemed his beloved Seeker was either so injured his signal was weakened, or he was so far away he wasn’t showing up through the local ‘noise’. Regardless of the interference he continued, as he had nothing else to do at the time.  
Bait hunting would be next on the list once he was certain his SparkMates had settled in together, and then preparing Soundwave for what awaited him would be followed shortly after. Starscream would just have to sit tight and play babysitter or wander outside to gather Energon for Solarflares increased demand and himself, as it was certain he wouldn’t pick anything up for Soundwave.  
Now that he thought about it he had to work out what types of bait would lure the young out of their pods the best; Energon Treats would be too obvious and wouldn’t suffice as mineral boosters, where as the likes of ore and biological produce would prove interesting. Perhaps a human would work? Or unprocessed Steel? There are four pods, so trying a different treat on each one would be excellent in finding the best one.  
The results from this little experiment would be used on Starscreams young and any future Hatchlings should either of his partners instinctively wish to produce more.  
With the scan yielding no results after an hour, Solarflare continued to think of things to be done before the new arrivals hatched and the future arrivals were delivered.  
Finding suitable bait: check. Training Soundwave for parenthood: check. Finding suitable growth boosters: Nope. It seemed the GB’s (Growth Boosters) were next to being thought of. A GB could be anything, just like the baiting treats, but are needed before the young are even delivered.  
_“What was on the list again?”_ Solarflare thought, scratching his head. “Energon, Oil, raw or liquid metal, Ore, glass, rubber and...Damn, what was the last one?” Soundwave exited from the warehouse, dusting his hands off “Haemoglobin, dear.”  
The blue Decepticon announced, jumping up onto the roof to sit beside his partner “you mean a protein to fuse iron with?” Solarflare questioned, as he felt his SparkMate pull out his Uplink Cable and connect himself to join in searching for Starscream “Red Blood Cells, to be exact. They’d be perfect for allowing the ore and other metals to be carried around and fused better.” Solarflare chuckled “They also carry Oxygen, which kills developing young. If I knew you weren’t so enlightened in my field of science I’d have told you to get lost for suggesting something that could kill the Hatchlings.”  
Soundwave lowered his head and muttered how stupid he was to forget about the whole ‘oxygen kills developing young’ thing “You’re not far off though Wave, it’s something biological. Something that will help the young to see things right after hatching rather than having to wait a week...but what was it?” The pair sat in silence as they scanned for Starscream, and their thoughts for an answer to the missing GB.  
So it was something biological; something to help the young see clearly and something easy to access. All that was well, but what was the item? Soundwave continued scanning whilst he left Solarflare to work out what the final ingredient was, and had locked onto the target pretty much instantly “Flare, I’ve got a reading on Starscream and his position.” The Communications Expert informed, nudging his SparkMate to gain his attention.  
“Really?! Let me set up communications right away! The sooner he gets here the better!”  
  
Communication set-up was instant, and within seconds Solarflare was able to talk to his missing partner.  
“Screamer! Where are you?!” he asked franticly, receiving a gasp of surprise from the receiving ex-Decepticon  
_“W-what...again?! Can’t I get five minutes alone?!”_ the Seeker growled.  
“Let me guess, you were fraging-off again.” Soundwave mocked.  
_“Slimeball--!”  
_ “--I didn’t start this communication for you both to fight!! Now answer my questions or your young could perish Screamer!!” Solarflare snapped, punching Soundwave in the arm “State your location and your condition.”  
_“Utah; the Badlands, in some Factory recharging and repairing. My thrusters will function again soon, but my weapons don’t work.”_ Starscream muttered. _  
_ Solarflare sighed heavily, as if expecting that response “Can you fly to Colorado?”  
_“I can’t go anywhere until my thrusters are finished.”  
_ “I meant right after finishing the repairs on them, can you make it?”  
_“Maybe.”  
_ “I don’t like your tone, Screamer.” Solarflare growled deeply.  
_“It’s just been a really chaotic two days...I need some down time.”_  
“Get this straight; I’m carrying for you so you—”  
_“Just give me a day to myself, Flare...”_  
“Do what I tell you, or I could have an ‘accident’. Now say yes or no.”  
_“...will Soundwave be—.”  
_ “Yes he’ll be here, from start to finish, now answer me. Can you come over here right away when you’re fixed?”  
_“...yes.”  
_ “Good. Soundwave, send him the coordinates to the rendezvous point and bring him over here when he arrives.” Solarflare instructed, looking slightly angry with Starscreams tone and attitude. If he thought he could just screw him as he pleased without doing anything in return he had another thing coming. At least Soundwave did as he was told!  
“Coordinates sent. We’ll rendezvous within two hours.” The Communications Expert informed.  
_“B-but...I need at least another thirty minutes to fix my thrusters! I won’t make it in time!”_ Solarflare growled, nudging Soundwave and nodding at him “Two hours Starscream, this is important.” The blue Decepticon informed before cutting himself from the communication and setting off to the meeting location.  
Solarflare sighed as he made out the weary whining from the SparkMate on the other end of his communication, and squinted his eyes in sympathy “Screamer, I didn’t mean to shout like that...” he began “...it’s the chemicals in my processor, it’s made me twitchy...sorry...” he finished, awaiting a reply from Starscream, only to hear him whine again as he continued to repair and curse.  
Solarflare thought that Starscream was so focused on the repairs that he didn’t even hear him, or was perhaps ignoring him to work faster on the thrusters. He decided to test him and see which one it was “How many young do you think I’ll make?” he asked, receiving a heavy sigh followed by a groan from his partner.  
_“Enough, I’m sure. Now I’m fixing myself so I can get to you, I’ll talk later.”_ And with those words the transmission was cut, along with Solarflares temper. In a fury he slammed his fist into the roof and stood up, before blasting a nearby scrapped car into junk and stomping the remains with his feet as he jumped from the roof. The chemicals within him churned, and to ease his fury he chose to enter the warehouse and cool himself off in the hopefully soundproofed chamber. Some shouting and ventilation was in order before both of his partners returned.  
  
Two hours passed, and Solarflare had drifted to slumber within the chamber, finally relieved of his anger and seeking nothing more than the company of both his SparkMates. He didn’t mind if it was a casual chat between the three of them, or him being sandwiched between both of them in a moment of lust, he sought their protection and their presence to comfort him.  
The last time he carried he isolated himself, and hardly saw anyone. It was a lonely, frustrating time. This would hopefully fix everything, providing the fighting didn’t start.  
The waiting in peace and quiet within the chamber ceased upon the sound of said SparkMates bickering as they leapt down into the underground facility, awakening Solarflare from his slumber “What are you suggesting?!” Starscream growled, shoving Soundwave in the back to speed up his pace “You’re a sore loser. And touch me like that again and I’ll rip your arms off.”  
The Seeker hissed as a response, and retaliated with another shove. Soundwave groaned with displeasure, before turning to punch Starscream square in the jaw “Okay you two, break it up or I’ll start breaking you into puzzle pieces!” Solarflare snapped, strolling out from the chamber wearily, with his presence causing the two rivals to stop fighting “Screamer, welcome to our new base. The young will be raised here until you and Wave deal with Megatron.” He welcomed, calming himself down “The upper level is to remain untouched, it’s meant to be a front to make this place look uninhabited. The room over there is the Nursery, and the room over there is the junk yard and future Lab.” He continued, observing as his Seeker pointed to the room behind him “What about that room behind you?” he asked.  
Solarflare chuckled and winked “That’s our room, and by ours I mean all three of us.”  
In an instant Starscream gawked and began protesting “No! Oh no, no, no, no! I’m not sleeping in the same room as Soundwave!” Solarflare sighed heavily and nodded to his other SparkMate “He said the same thing, until I managed to work something out...” the triple-changer grinned deviously after speaking “What? Did you offer him my head as a reward for cheap sport?” the ex-Decepticon muttered “Oh that reminds me; I need to tell Starscream about the game I thought of.” The triple-changer purred as he circled his partners, trailing his finger down their arms as he orbited them.  
“A game? Oh Flare you know I love games.” Starscream chirred as his partner stopped beside him, and smothered his arm lovingly with hugs and kisses.  
The Seeker smirked and turned to flash a smug look to his rival, hoping he’d be furious; but to his surprise he saw Soundwave returning a similar smirk with his faceplate retracted, chuckling at him. The Seeker narrowed his eyes and turned to look at his SparkMate in shock “What’s going on here??” he asked sounding rather nervous “Oh, I already told Wave the rules to this game. He’s looking forward to playing it.”  
Starscream tilted his head and uttered a sharp “huh?” as he became even more confused “We can’t play the real one until I deliver, but there’s a hybrid version we can all do.” Solarflare purred, slapping a hand against Starscreams Fusion Cavity doors, causing him to blush “W-wait...this ‘game’ of yours wouldn’t happen to be—”  
Solarflare nodded in response, before licking his lips at Soundwave seductively “No injecting me in this game, not for six months, it’s all foreplay for this one.” The triple-changer whispered to his lovers, pulling them both steadily to his chamber.  
“Screamer let me tell you the rules. If you like this game, we can work things out to stop the fighting.” Soundwave whispered with a slight chuckle in his voice as he pushed the Seeker to his SparkMate, allowing him to shut the door behind him.  
“Uh, I’m not sure if this will work...can’t we play a different game—” in an instant Soundwave turned on the ex-Decepticon and slammed him against the wall “—oh dear Primus!” Starscream shrieked as Solarflare slipped himself between the pair, and seductively pulled out the Seekers Uplink Cable. “Rule number one, when Flare says stop you stop.” Soundwave hummed as he received Starscreams cable from Solarflare “Rule number two, no fighting. Even if you like it rough, Flare says no.” He continued, humming as he trailed his fingers around the cable stub, causing Starscream to blush “Rule number three, even when you release you don’t stop until you become exhausted or when Flare says so.”  
The Seeker gasped as Soundwave caressed the cable, continuing to explain the rules “and finally rule number four; the one up front is a first-come first-serve, the second player must be behind if the front is occupied.”  
Solarflare chirped as he observed Starscreams blush grow upon Soundwave ending his talking and begin licking on the Seekers Uplink Cable, watching in great interest as his SparkMates teased one another and him; playing with Uplink Cables, kisses and squeezes. Soundwave, being stronger from the instinctive overhaul, dominated Starscream even to the point of letting Solarflare slip out of the picture to watch.  
“Now if you both did this instead of fighting, I’d be happier.” Solarflare purred, watching with a blush as Soundwave grasped Starscreams chin, slipping his tongue into his mouth in a passionate kiss. Starscream, who tried with all his might to fight back, blushed as the blue Decepticon clenched his thigh and raised it up whilst still kissing him. If Starscreams build wasn’t so similar to Solarflares it would be certain Soundwave would never have continued when the prize to fight for was no longer present; he wanted to beat the Seeker senseless, not kiss him or do other such things with him. But other than sharing a similar frame to Solarflare, and being able to picture the one he was kissing as him, Soundwave couldn’t help but enjoy the sounds Starscream was emitting.  
The Seeker moaned as his captor rotated him, so his back was against him, and forced his Fusion Cavity open “Oh Soundwave, I like where this is going!” Solarflare hummed as the blue Decepticon began enticing his jet prisoner into ejecting his Sinus Wires, tickling his V-port and kissing his neck “I have four words for you, Screamer; Eject or be injected.” Soundwave exhaled as he circled his fingers across the V-port end, forcing a gasp to escape Starscreams trembling lips.  
The Seeker shuddered as his wires slowly ejected and fell under Soundwaves mercy as he grasped them. He was expecting the Chief of Communications to attempt mutilating him, but instead received something much more to his liking.  
Solarflare moaned in pleasure as he watched Soundwave begin fraging Starscream, who trembled within the fellow SparkMates arms and began gasping with each pull on his tools.  
_One, two, exhale. One, two, inhale.  
_ The pattern flowed, as did the feeling within his storage tanks of a build up of his content. He tried to think, but the gentle embrace of Soundwave and his handling of his tools made that difficult. “*gasp* S-Soundwave!!” he exhaled, grasping onto the arm of his captor which happened to be grasping onto his Sinus Wires “Now you know why Flare loves my touch, Screamer.” Soundwave chuckled, humming as he felt Starscreams load steadily force its way out along with a heavy cry for Primus.  
Soundwave purred as he allowed his captive to regain his breath and to finish allowing his current produce to escape, before continuing the fraging process “Remember, Screamer; Rule number three...” he chuckled, moaning as he absorbed the sounds his captive made with his continued process. The sound became too much for the Decepticon, and he forced open his own cavity doors, and released Starscream.  
Solarflare, lying on his belly, watched in anticipation for what Starscream would do now he was released. And Soundwave didn’t seem to care what the Seeker would do, as the sounds he heard had stimulated him into needing to defrag his own load before his Fusion Drive could take over.  
Starscream turned to Soundwave, salivating, and chuckled as the Decepticon began to relieve himself “Need a hand, Wave?” he purred, strolling over to the Decepticon “Now you will know why Flare loves my games.” The Seeker chuckled before tackling Soundwave, pinning him to the floor “I haven’t played this game with him for a long, long time. Let’s see if I can get you to come to me faster than you made me come to you.” He whispered; trailing down to Soundwaves still exposed Sinus Wires, before licking them teasingly and allowing them to slip into his mouth.  
Solarflare approached the duo and connected his Uplink Cable to Soundwave, and Starscreams cable to himself, so he could join in the fun even if it was emotionally and not physically.  
Soundwave groaned as he felt Starscreams tongue caress his equipment, and his suction to help him release. It seemed the duo had finally understood what Solarflare meant by finding competition in another form, even if they would both deny ever doing these stunts.  
This was all a big display to the triple-changer over what the pair was good at, and they knew all too well that he loved displays; especially erotic ones.  
Soundwaves audio units activated themselves as he became aroused by the Seekers advances, causing some of his old recordings to scramble in playback; he understood now that Solarflare found Starscream a very good user of his hands and mouth, not only to speak but also in romantic activities. It was simply that whilst He was oral Soundwave was auditory.  
Starscream spoke whilst Soundwave listened and the Seeker kissed whilst the cassette-player touched. It was also obvious Starscream was rough, and that he would provide a bit of fire in Solarflares life.  
He was the thrill, whilst Soundwave was the real romantic. Comparisons and differences are what made them both desirable to the triple-changer.   
“You understand now too, Wave; very good. I love how this game is going.” Solarflare purred, stroking the blue Decepticons helmet as he groaned from his wires still being caressed within Starscreams mouth “And from the sound of things, you do too.” He chuckled, placing his other hand on his other SparkMates helmet “Wave is close, Screamer. Take it up a notch.” He added, purring upon hearing the Chief of Communications exhale as Starscream did as he was told, and intensified his activity.  
Soundwave forced himself upright and grasped Starscreams helmet, moaning for him to stop as he was about to release his content, but all the Seeker did was increase the teasing. “*moan* Vector Sigma...” Soundwave groaned as his joints tensed “*moan*...finally...” Soundwave gasped as Starscream ceased his activities, allowing him to release, with him taking in the whole load within his mouth.  
Solarflare exhaled as he allowed Soundwave to share his current emotions with him “Yes Wave; he has a way with his tongue doesn’t he?” he exhaled “now watch what he does next...” Starscream hauled himself up, and casually swallowed the content he received before licking his lips “My, my Wave...you’re delicious.” The Seeker whispered, before turning to Solarflare “You’re right, this game is fun. We should play it often.”  
Soundwave allowed himself to rest entirely across the floor, panting to regain his breath, before finding Starscream sitting on his pelvis with his legs on each side of him. Solarflare trailed behind Soundwave and began massaging his shoulders, gazing into his eyes as Starscream leaned in close to the blue Decepticon, and slipped his tongue into his mouth “Don’t give up yet, Wave...the fun is just starting...” Solarflare chirped, licking his lips as his partners resumed play “...and this is nothing compared to the games we’ll play in six months time...”  
  
Meanwhile, back at the base Eclipse was being repaired. The explosion from the bomb had destroyed his engine and damaged several other parts to him, rendering him unable to move or Transform “Don’t worry Eclipse; we’ll get you a new engine from Shockwave soon. Megatron promised.” Scrapper informed, finishing up on the repair work “You’re all fixed minus the engine, it needs totally replacing. So your movement will be a bit limited, and Transforming would be pointless since you can’t drive without it.”  
Eclipse groaned as he rolled from the operating table and onto the floor, making no effort at all to stand up “Rumble and Frenzy said they’d like to take you out for a bit of fun whilst you wait for the engine, without Soundwave they’ve nothing better to do anyway.” Scrapper sighed as the Triple-Changer crawled his way from the repair station, cursing to himself about his weakness.  
Scrapper sighed once the youth departed and turned to Hook “Why did it have to be him to carry the bomb? He’s always been loyal to Megatron.” He questioned as the fellow Constructicon cleared the table for the next Decepticon to enter; Swindle.  
“Oh that brings back memories! Damn Megatron would plant a bomb in everyone if he could!!” Swindle whined, lying on the table “Yeah well you sold your comrades as scrap for Energon, you had that coming. Eclipse doesn’t deserve it.” Scrapper growled, jamming a wrench into Swindles arm “And he’s still a kid, he has his whole life ahead of him! I swear Megatron is losing his freaking mind!” Hook hummed as he removed the wrench from Swindles arm and threw it at the slumbering Bonecrusher.  
“Once repairs are done here, we’re getting that engine and having a little chat with Astrotrain. He knows Solarflare, and he’ll know how we can fix this mess before things get out of hand.”  
   
Whilst the Decepticons repaired, planned and relaxed, Eclipse along with his Circuit Buddies had raided Human turf to cause trouble to keep the triple-changers mind off the traumatic things he’d been put through for six months.  
Frenzy had rushed off to gather more spray paint, as Rumble had only brought one can with him. Eclipse sat upon a wall, not watching anything but his feet as Rumble began spraying graffiti “Hey Lunar, you’ve not said anything since you came back. Did anything happen?” Rumble asked, receiving a grunt from Eclipse as an answer “Fine, be that way then.” The Casseticon muttered, continuing with the tagging.  
Rumble chuckled at the Decepticon Graffiti on the wall, taking a step or two back to admire his work further "Hey Eclipse, how much you betting that not a single Autobot can read this?" Rumble laughed, before hearing his Circuit Buddy sniffle behind him. Rumble smelt the fumes from Eclipses damaged engine, and turned to check on his condition. It was his assigned job after all to keep an eye on Eclipses recovery from that explosion, and it was also his job to keep his mouth shut about the bomb in his own friends back.  
Rumble groaned as he heard Eclipse sniffle again, and approached the wall the Bugatti was currently sat on "You crying? Did I say something--" Eclipse threw his broken Null-Ray at his friend, narrowly missing him, gritting his teeth together as he tried with all his might to end his crying...but the Energon falls kept pouring; Eclipse was so angry with his weakness that he turned to look away from Rumble.  
The Casseticon folded his arms and threw the empty spray paint can at Eclipses head, gaining his attention once more "What's wrong with you? You shouldn't be any pain now you've been fixed up...Megatron said he'd find you a new engine--"  
"--Megatron is a pile of slag, I hope Soundwave and Starscream kill him!!" the Bugatti cried in anger, before turning his attention back to the very empty street "You don't mean that, Lunar." Rumble sighed looking up at his buddy in pity "He left me there...for six months...with THEM...the damn Autobots..." the Triple-Changer growled.  
Rumble face-palmed and laughed "Megatron does that to everyone. He left Ravage as Autobot Prisoner for days--"  
"--not six months of torture! They didn't hurt me, but they were telling me things...horrible things...about the Decepticons..." Eclipse began, but continued as his Energon tears did "I hate feeling this way! I hate being weak! Father Shockwave would be ashamed of me if he saw me now! Sitting on the fence...not sure if I'm on the right side..." Rumbles mouth opened in shock; did Eclipse just question if he was on the right side? The last thing he wanted was his Circuit Buddy to hop onto the Autobots and for that bomb to detonate.  
Screw the Autobots, he didn't want Megatron to use Eclipse as some surprise package of death. Rumble approached the wall and began climbing up it, looking at his friend "You're kidding, right?" he asked as Eclipse sniffled again, looking at his feet "No, Rumble...I don't think I'm on the right side of this fence...I'm sat in the middle."  
Rumble narrowed his eyes in sympathy as he sat alongside Eclipse, who arched forwards and covered his eyes as he burst into tears. The Casseticon reached his hand to pat his friend on the back, but instead pulled back and began fiddling with his thumbs “You know, I’ve been wondering if I’m working for the right guy too. But not on the same level as you, Lunar.” Rumble began, observing in silence as Eclipse dried his Energon tears and sniffled at him “R-really?”  
Rumble nodded and sighed, leaning forwards with his arms resting on his legs “Yeah, Soundwave has been spending more time doing his own thing and less of Megatrons work. He doesn’t tell me or Frenzy anything anymore, he won’t even carry us around anymore. Not even Lazerbeak and Ravage.” He began “He’s not my manufacturer, but he’s always been like one to me. Ever since the nature freak showed up, the boss has been...different...I don’t like it.”  
Eclipse chuckled and stared forwards, watching as passing cars screeched to a halt and turned back around in a panic upon seeing them sat on the wall. Rumble observed Frenzy rushing up the street in a panic, weapon at the ready “Frenzy, what’s up?” he asked, jumping from the wall “A-Autobots! We gotta beat it now!!” Frenzy panted, pointing to Eclipse “They’re looking for you! We have to get back to the base right now!”  
Eclipse narrowed his eyes and leapt from the wall, before flexing his joints and punching the air in front of him “No way, I want to fight. I want to smash something!” The alarm bells started ringing in Rumbles mind, as he remembered that if Eclipse took too much damage the bomb would go off “Eclipse! I have a better idea! Let’s go back to base and uh...do things in the boss’ place!”  
Frenzy turned to Rumble and squinted “Mess with the boss’ stuff?! You crazy?!” Rumble pouted before slapping Frenzy “He’s hardly ever around; let’s make use of his space you robot chicken!!”  
Eclipse turned to the duo and folded his arms, chuckling, before flying off to the base. The two Casseticons followed, still arguing over messing in Soundwaves lab being a bad or good idea.  
  
Upon their return the trio find Megatron shouting at his fellow Decepticons, pissed at Soundwave ignoring his calls, and suspecting he has run off with Solarflare. “If what I think has transpired actually has, then this act is a form of treason! And Soundwave must be punished!” the Leader began, noticing the Casseticons and Eclipse approach meekly and stand beside their larger Decepticon allies “The penalty for treason is DEATH. If anyone sees evidence of Soundwaves treachery I want it reported immediately! Anyone who discloses information will also be terminated on the grounds of treason, and as I was too soft on Starscream; he will receive the same punishment should I ever see his face again! Any future acts or mentions of switching sides or working solo will be dealt with accordingly, with even the smallest of thoughts of a side-switch being punished with DETENTION.” Megatron bellowed, turning to Astrotrain in an instant.  
“Those under Solarflares ‘Bond’ are to be purged of the blight, or shall be terminated! I will not allow him to manipulate this force for Starscream, as I am well aware of his desire to please him! Astrotrain, as you are our only connection between Cybertron and Earth, you are to be ‘cleansed’ first.”  
The Triple-Changer grunted, and twitched in anger. He liked being a brother to Solarflare, he liked having better understanding with fellow comrade Blitzwing, and for once he was able to talk with Thundercracker on the same level. The Bond was wonderful, a blessing...but Megatron saw it as a curse, a disease...Astrotrain would not stand for it; the foul nature of Megatron upon Solarflare had dragged on long enough.  
“Go frag yourself, Megatron.” The Triple-Changer growled, receiving a gasp of shock from his fellow Decepticons.  
“...say that again.” The Leader growled back, approaching Astrotrain loading his Fusion Cannon.  
“I’m done working for you if you’re going to be so abusive to what truly is a blessing to the Decepticons, the first breeder in our ranks for the first time in millennia.” Megatron narrowed his eyes and aimed his Cannon at Astrotrain, instantly causing the surrounding Decepticons to back away.  
“You depart, and I will destroy you.” He muttered, nudging the Triple-Changer with his weapon.  
“Then watch as Cybertron withers and dies, all because of you.” Astrotrain chuckled, observing as Megatron lowered his Fusion Cannon and released the controls from it.  
“What do you cherish more, Astrotrain; Your life or the ability to create life?” Megatron questioned, not looking up at the Decepticon before him. Astrotrain raised a brow in confusion, until noticing that Megatron was staring directly at his Fusion Cavity “N-no...Megatron—!!” his attempts to stop the oncoming fate was too late; and in an instant the Triple-Changer found himself tackled to the floor by the tyrant, with his cavity doors ripped off and tossed aside.  
The others either watched in horror, or turned away, or shielded innocent eyes from what was about to happen.  
Astrotrain screamed in agony as Megatron ploughed his fingers around his V-port, and clenched with full strength on the cavity. The following events resulted in more agonising screams, as the tyrant ripped open Astrotrains Fusion Cavity and tore it apart, crushing his Storage Tanks and pulling out his Sinus Wires.  
The screams never seemed to end, and Eclipse (with his eyes shielded by Thundercracker) trembled in fear as he heard the fellow Triple-Changers pain; the pain that was inflicted by Megatron’s brute force and the pain of losing his ability to breed. Never would Astrotrain be able to find and court a partner, never would he be able to start a family, and never again would he be able to talk to his fellow Decepticons the same way. He would be empty, a vessel carrying no cargo.  
“Be glad I did this and not Cosmic Rust! Now, get out of my sight!” the tyrant boomed, stomping on the remains of Astrotrains Fusion Cavity and watching as the mutilated Triple-Changer crawled from the scene in agony. The other Decepticons returned their gaze to Megatron, with their heads lowered in fear of what he would do next. Megatron had indeed locked onto his next target; Blitzwing.  
“And you; I remember you assisted in preventing me from destroying Soundwave many months back...”he hummed, circling his target “I...I didn’t know what came over me...” Blitzwing shivered as he felt the tyrannous Leader grasp onto his abdomen, fearing the same fate as Astrotrain awaited him “It’s Solarflares poison, it’s corrupted your mind Blitzwing. Go get it purged right away.” Megatron instructed, grasping tightly on Blitzwings Fusion Cavity “...or be prepared to undergo the same treatment as Astrotrain...”  
Blitzwing nodded nervously, sighing with relief as the tyrant released him and turned on Thundercracker next “Will I have to inflict my treatment on you also, Thundercracker?” he growled, shifting his gaze down to Eclipse who looked in horror at Megatron and the remains of what had happened just minutes ago to Astrotrain.  
“N-no, Lord Megatron...” the Seeker answered, a stutter in his voice. Megatron narrowed his eyes and stepped in closer to Thundercracker, grasping his face and forcing him to make eye contact “Say that again, Thundercracker.” He growled, watching as the Seeker suddenly became panicked. Eclipse clung to Thundercrackers side and trembled; his only friends were Rumble and Frenzy, but Thundercracker was like an older brother to him. He tried to protect him from sights he shouldn’t see, and was always there to prevent physical harm being done to him.  
He knew the reason why said Seeker hadn’t rescued him for six months was all because of Megatron, and he knew that Thundercracker would do anything to defend his friendship with Solarflare. His little lie was about to be exposed, and Eclipse knew what would happen once it was.  
“I’m waiting, Thundercracker.” Megatron snarled, noticing how the Seeker tried with all his might not to make eye contact.  
“Very well then, you’ll be treated now also.” The tyrant growled, throwing Thundercracker to the floor sending Eclipse crashing beside him “Megatron! I beg of you!” the Seeker cried before having his throat grasped and his cavity doors ripped open.  
Whilst other Decepticons watched or turned away again, Eclipse went to drastic measures to save his protectors tools. Before Megatron could destroy the V-Port, Eclipse tackled him crying for him to stop, providing Thundercracker with the opportunity to get some distance between the tyrant and himself “Eclipse, no!” the Seeker cried out as the young Triple-Changer refused to remove himself from Megatrons back.  
“You don’t care about us! You’re a bad Leader!!” Eclipse screamed as the tyrant managed to grab his arm and toss him from his back. The youth edged himself backwards on the floor as the tyrant approached him, until being held in place by one of the giants feet “You may be young and foolish, Eclipse, but you shall be punished for interfering.”  
The Bugatti struggled under the growing pressure from Megatrons foot, until being hauled from the floor by his throat “Eclipse shall be confined in detention for the next four months! Thundercracker, stay where you are...I’m not done with you yet.”  
The Seeker swallowed, twitching in fear as the tyrant handed Eclipse to Blitzwing “Take him to detention and cleanse yourself from Solarflares poison, Blitzwing.” He ordered, receiving a shy nod from the triple-changer before he took his leave with the Bugatti.  
Megatron trailed towards Thundercracker again, smirking as the Seeker backed away with each step he took “There is no escape, Thundercracker. Admit that you won’t remove the blight, and I may make your pain easier than Astrotrains.”  
The Seeker panicked, and trembling from the fear he didn’t say a word. He was waiting for the tyrant to make the first move, so he could exploit it and get away as fast as he could.  
“Skywarp, if Thundercracker attempts to depart, catch him and bring him back.” Megatron ordered, blowing his little plan into a puff of smoke. And in an instant of finishing his order, the tyrant charged. Even Skywarp couldn’t watch the mutilation taking place, and because he didn’t admit he liked having Solarflares Bond the process was slow and painful.  
The Constructicons watched in fury, witnessing one of the most complicated processors (next to Solarflares generator) being destroyed so casually. And to make their anger grow, Megatron was enjoying himself as the Seeker screamed for mercy.  
Mercy.  
  
_Mercy._


	10. Fear of an Autobot -part 1-

Time, as many say, makes fools of us all. Some also say it ‘flies-by quickly’ when enjoying yourself, or ‘stands at a crawl’ in awkward times. All Soundwave knew was that time before his young would hatch was growing to a quick end. One month away from hatching, and no bait had been gathered. Without the bait the young would grow slower, hatch later and be easier to kill.   
It had become Soundwaves job to assess possible bait types, and to assist Solarflare in gathering said bait before returning it to the Sanctuary.   
  
New arrivals Thundercracker and Astrotrain provided excellent guardians, and no extra Energon needed to be ‘paid’ for them to add that extra bit of protection; they had to pay back for the work Solarflare had done to restore the framework to their Fusion Cavities. Sure the job was unfinished, but that was only because Solarflare had to put the hatchlings priorities first before continuing with the work on his two friends. And the priority right now was getting that bait!  
The first bait-hunt was taking place in Colorado Springs, with the target objects being ‘anything you can find’.   
  
Soundwaves first ideas were ripping down billboards and gathering the scrap metal “That beam is rusted; it would give them a bad case of Crossfire. Leave that junk where it is.” Solarflare informed before turning to a nearby gas station “These support beams look much better. Wave, rip them up.” The Triple-Changer ordered, tearing off the station roof.  
“Right away, Flare. What should we try next?” the Decepticon asked, forcing the beams from the ground and blasting them into a shape he could store easily in his back compartment. Solarflare hummed as he scouted their surroundings, and sucked his thumb as he took in the sights. What could he see that would provide something his young would need? All he saw was scrap, junk, some trees and humans. Their smell was powerful; _very_ powerful. Perhaps their scent would be strong enough to lure the young out, and the oils within their flesh could get them moving for the first time. Certainly a majority of the human would go to waste, but the bait was to lure out the young early; it would be a one-time event unless Solarflares idea was proven wrong.   
So the next target had been selected, and the ball had to get rolling “Wave, new objective: Human Harvest. Operation starts now. Leave the young and old, and any females carrying young.” The Triple-Changer stomped after the fleeing humans, smirking as he hauled humans up one by one and began inspecting them; too small, too fat, too hairy and too young.   
  
One by one Solarflare and Soundwave scouted out their targets, tossing the undesirables aside whilst storing the best fleshling samples within an Energon Cage.   
“Flare, Data reveals that the best specimens are located in facilities called Arcades and Malls; Young Adults, males and females of average build and size.” Soundwave informed, noticing how empty their catch-cage looked.   
Solarflare slipped a finger into his mouth and purred, eyeing a weakened humanoid with interest; it was bleeding and would not last the trip back to the Sanctuary, but it proved an opportunity to test his theory he had “Flare, what do you suggest?” Soundwave asked as his mate salvaged the injured humanoid, who begged for mercy “Just a moment Wave, I need to test something on this creature.” He purred, squeezing the creature in his grasp to hear the bones crack under the force.   
The scientist licked his lips as he released the creature, and licked the blood from his hand gently “I can taste...the iron...” Solarflare exhaled, a shimmer of scheming in his eyes as he heard the humanoids in the cage scream in horror before he pursued the target he released, seeking more from it. Soundwave tilted his head as he watched the Triple-Changer continue to harass the injured fleshling, trying to find a way to make it bleed faster or so help the poor beast it would end up being his first taste of flesh.   
He liked how the haemoglobin tasted, and was certain the young would benefit from it since they’d be at a suitable age to accept Oxygen. But he couldn’t drink too much of the substance himself, not whilst he was still carrying, but one human wouldn’t do any harm.   
  
“Wave, what properties do the Human bone and skin tissues possess?” he asked, eyeing his catch as it weakly tried to defend itself “Bone matter contains a combination of Marrow and—” Solarflare groaned “Just tell me which would be useful, I don’t need a lecture on what I already know.” Soundwave muttered to himself before folding his arms “The Marrow is the only useful component. It contains proteins and is also the source of creation for Blood Cells of the red nature.” Soundwave continued “The rest of the bone structure is useless to my young, but would be vital for your other developing ones. As for the skin tissue, it contains oils which would suffice as a cheap lubricant; most likely not lasting very long.”   
Solarflare nodded at Soundwaves response, before skipping down to the Arcade with the injured Human still in his hand. “What would happen if I consumed this creature?” Solarflare asked, stopping for a moment to observe the more frantic cries for help from the beast “No Data available. You’d be the first to attempt it.”   
Solarflare grinned, licking his fangs “Should anything backfire, I will provide assistance. I too am curious to see what happens.” Soundwave informed, placing the caged humans on the floor as their screams were proving a distraction to him.   
  
The Triple-Changer opened his mouth and edged the screaming captive close to consume them, when Bumblebee strolled out of the Arcade and fired at his hand, releasing them “Whatever you’re up to you should turn around and go home now!” Bumblebee yelled, taking aim for his next shot. Solarflare growled as he watched his catch escape and flashed a flat-brow of displeasure at the Autobot “I remember you...you disturbed me and Starscream...” Solarflare growled, cracking his knuckles “This is your second disturbance, I’m not letting you go with a warning this time. Wave, deal with him.” He ordered, clicking his fingers to the Arcade.   
“Shall I capture and destroy, to gather more bait materials?” the blue Decepticon asked, also cracking his knuckles “Negative, we don’t want our babies being cannibals now. Just get rid of him.” Solarflare arched himself forwards and grasped the roof of the Arcade, before ripping it off and tossing it aside “Right away, Flare.” Soundwave responded as he approached the Autobot, grasping him with his toned-up strength.   
  
“W-what?! Decepticons!?” Chip Chase gawked as the roof to the Arcade was removed.   
“I’ve gotta call the other Autobots--!!” Bumblebee squirmed as Soundwave restrained him “Denied.” The Decepticon growled, strapping Energon Chains around Bumblebees arms and legs before kicking him into the sidewalk.   
“You won’t get away with this, whatever plan you Decepticons have to harvest Energy will fail like always!!” Spike protested as he was snatched up by Solarflare, watching as Chip was also grasped by Soundwave “We’re not here to harvest Energon, young fleshling...we’re harvesting you.”   
Chip struggled in Soundwaves grasp, asking what they would harvest human beings for, which caused Solarflare to lick his lips “...to become my young’s first meal.”  
  
-  
  
Seven human males, three human females, a mass of melted iron, a broken car and a box full of fruit and plants. One of these had to work, he was certain. The Humans were locked behind Energon Bars inside the Nursery, which was guarded by Astrotrain, and were growing more nervous by the minute.   
“Do you think Bumblebee can get the Autobots to find us before...you know...Solarflare decides to eat one of us?” Spike asked Chip, who was observing the distant pods of the Hatchlings which were hanging on the opposite side of the room “I hope so, my homing beacon was on my wheelchair and they didn’t bring it with us.” Chip whispered back as a response, nudging Spike into looking across the room.   
“What...what are those??” Spike questioned in awe “Those will be my darlings, who will soon feast on your corpse.” Solarflare growled as he entered the Nursery, avoiding an excited hug attempt from Astrotrain.   
“Astro; you can go and have your Cavity finished now in the lab by Soundwave. I’m craving a midday snack.” The Triple-Changer grinned, slipping a finger into his mouth as he eyed the Humanoids “You’re too kind Solar.” Astrotrain chuckled “How will I be sure the jobs been finished?” he questioned, patting his friend on the shoulder “Screamer will help you...test It. Thundercracker said his is fully functional again.” Solarflare answered, licking his finger as he continued to eye the captured Humans.   
Astrotrain smirked, glancing down at the creatures also before taking his leave rather quickly, obviously anticipating the restoration of his Fusion Cavity.   
Spike and Chip stared up in fear as did their fellow captives as the scientist stood before them, shifting his gaze from one human to the next with his finger still in his mouth. Both of them knew that Solarflare was not joking about consuming one of the captives, especially after what Perceptor and Optimus Prime told them about Decepticon behaviour, particularly Female Decepticons who were either in Fusion Drive or Carrying.   
  
-  
  
 _“There’s nothing more dangerous than a female Decepticon ready to breed or carrying. They’re unpredictable, spontaneous and they’re protected heavily by their SparkMate and any circle of friends they may have.”_  They recalled Optimus saying, but of course he was also accompanied by an Autobot all too familiar with Decepticons for research purposes; Perceptor. _  
  
“You forgot one other vital thing Optimus Prime; their appetite. It excels so rapidly whilst carrying that Energon alone may not be good enough to keep them functional; a Decepticon frame is built for combat or strenuous work, which requires them to consume a great deal of Energon among other items that will keep them healthy. A female with young requires much more than any male ever would, even more than Megatron. Oils, ores, Energon and certain proteins will be depleted rapidly as the process develops. So a desperate female will devour anything she can to keep herself healthy and her young alive by returning those depleting components up and back in the balance, and alongside the unpredictability we cannot rule out Solarflare possibly seeking to consume...Humanoids...if shi indeed is pregnant.”_ Perceptor had informed them many times before of the dangers surrounding what appeared to be a harmless Decepticon, confirming the terrible truth that no such Decepticon truly existed. Solarflare was different of course, but ‘shi’ was by no means harmless. _  
  
“So this goes out to all of you; if you see Solarflare you call for help right away. Don’t confront her alone, and by no means should you attack her. Any small Autobots are to travel with a larger comrade for protection, and we must remain vigilant in scouting all corners of the United States to find her. She is top priority.”_ Optimus voice rang clear to the other Autobots, including Starscreams old friend; Jetfire.  
 _  
“Prime, we have sources claiming activity relating to Solarflare have been detected around Central America. A scout team sighted Soundwave by himself and as odd as it may sound, he was gathering oranges. We also sighted Starscream.”_ Jetfire informed. _  
“Starscream? What was he doing?”_ Optimus asked, receiving _“Nothing at all.”_ As his only answer from the quiet jet _“It’s just like he said when he left us, Jetfire. I can’t believe he was serious about it. Did anyone question him?”  
_ Everyone remembered the look on poor Jetfires face the moment Optimus asked that question, and Optimus himself knew wha the answer would be the moment he saw it himself; the large Autobot jet looked entirely downtrodden by his teams failure _“My team attempted to approach him, but he retaliated with fire before escaping. We couldn’t even get close to him.”  
_  
There was a long silence within the Autobot camp, before Optimus shook his head and decided to resume asking the teams for further information on their search _“Beachcomber...any sightings of Solarflare from your team?”  
“None at all, Optimus.”  
“That doesn’t surprise me at all; Solarflare is being extremely cautious and she has every right to be that way.” _ Optimus began, sounding more confident than before “ _Well Autobots we have our target. Bumblebee and Blaster, you search Colorado as a divided team with Smokescreen and Mirage. Tracks, take the Dinobots to Utah. The rest of you, we’ll split into two teams and search Arizona and New Mexico. Transform and Roll Out!”_  
  
-  
  
That meeting was terrifying enough to the Humanoids. Before it they saw Solarflare as just a moody Decepticon with relationship issues, but now...now they see him in a different light.   
Perceptor told them everything they needed to know about the differences between Fembots and Femcons, but not even he was certain about Solarflare. He truly was a special case, a new breed and in the eyes of the current captives he was their worst nightmare. And their fear escalated when the Breeder snatched up a female without warning and observed her, sniffing her hair and watching with careful eyes as she tried to free herself from the Herms grasp.   
  
“Hmmm...No, you’d be better use to the young than me...so you get to live a bit longer.” He chuckled, setting the girl back in the cage with the others, before grasping a different female and repeating the process “Perhaps you females would be the best bait. You certainly smell odd...” he muttered, tossing the second female back into the cage before grasping Chip Chase next.   
Spike jumped onto the Decepticons hand and tried to free Chip, only for Solarflares other hand to apprehend him too “You’re a feisty one, and if I remember right you also disturbed me and Starscream up on the cliff like that bothersome Autobot.” He began, releasing Chip back into the cage “So you know what this means...” he purred, tightening his grip slightly on Spike who writhed in pain from the slowly mounting pressure “...you’re not suitable for my young as nutrients, so you would prove an unworthy test subject in this situation.”   
  
Spike exhaled in relief as Solarflare released him, allowing him to do as he pleased outside of the cage “You’ll be quite the plaything for them, although I am certain they’d wear you out quite quickly.” The Triple-Changer chuckled as Spike rushed to one of his feet and began slamming his fists onto it with no result, allowing him to watch the pathetic Humans attempts in amusement.   
The Scientist steadily turned his eyes from watching Spike to the cage of Humans, and reached into it to grasp another male who was a fair bit taller than the Witwicky who was still trying to attack “Ah, you’re _perfect_.” He chuckled, licking his lips as the man begged for his life.   
“Let him go, you monster!!” Spike screamed as he continued to slam his fists against Solarflares foot, only to be knocked down as the Decepticon walked over to his young with the human still in his hand.   
The Triple-Changer lowered his head and stood in silence, remembering the moment he uttered those two words to his SparkMate; those cold and so very empty words. “...monster...me?” he growled, with his back turned to Spike and the other humans “...no, not me. I only harvested young adults and older. No more children will die...not anymore...” he added, his shoulders twitching in anger as he began crushing his victim without even noticing.   
  
“You’re going to treat us like cattle! And what will it all be for; to produce a bigger army?!” Spike yelled, watching in anger as Solarflare ignored him and became more focused on his victim; the male was bleeding badly, and was screaming that his legs were broken, but neither of these stopped the Decepticon from continuing the torture. The creature had to be dead, pulverised and drained of its red fluids before he could consume it. Some blood could remain to perk him up in this time of great weight, but too much would destroy Starscreams children brewing within his Cavity.   
“I don’t wish to build an army, or contribute to it. I just want a family...a nice, big family that is healthy and strong...” Solarflare began, hearing the creature in his hand begging for his pain to end weakly and as the torment continued, the creature cried for mercy “...take satisfaction in knowing your demise will allow several others to live.” He added, placing his thumb and index finger on the males head before effortlessly breaking his neck.   
“No! STOP THIS MADNESS!” cried a female in the cage, along with several other captives who screamed ‘monster, demon, and devil’ at the Triple-Changer.   
  
Spike cringed as the Scientist continued to crush the deceased male in his hand, draining his life blood onto the floor below the Hatchling Pods. Solarflare then began uttering softly in a language Spike couldn’t understand, ceasing the draining of the creature as he **continued to mutter in an odd version of Cybertronian** , before he slipped the remains of the human into his mouth and swallowed him whole, causing Spike to cringe yet again.   
“Optimus was right; your kind is just like a pack of wild animals...” Spike growled, watching as the Triple-Changer wiped a slither of blood from his mouth and muttered in the hybrid language to his young in the Pods, before returning his attention to the undying noise coming from Spikes mouth “...he asked for mercy, so I gave him a faster and less painful death. Would an animal do that?” he questioned, turning back to the group and approaching.   
“From what my data tells me, animals show no mercy. They don’t care how old their prey is, if they’re carrying or even if they are sick. They kill to feed their young and themselves, to ensure their survival.” Solarflare continued “I may kill to feed my young, and perhaps now even myself, but I am selective. I chose only young adults and adults, of average build and size, and made sure they were not carrying infants. No animal would do that, not even a Human.” He hissed, stomping his foot a few inches away from Spike who dashed for cover behind a nearby mound of melted-down iron as Solarflare continued to fake attempts at stepping on him.   
“Not even **_him_**. He’d have deactivated me...and he wouldn’t have cared!” he roared, stomping harder onto the floor.   
  
“But you don’t need to kill any of us! All you need is Energon! Perceptor even said that your young would only need that to be lured out!” Spike informed, dodging another stomp from the Hermaphrodites foot “He’s thinking of what Female Autobots need and produce, not a Decepticon. He knows nothing.” The Triple-Changer snarled as he scooped up Spike and set him on a high-raised shelf not too far from the Hatchling Pods.   
“I’ve put everything on the line for them...my children...I’ve put my job on the line, my SparkMates, my friends...even my own life. If I have to die to make sure these four live, then call your Autobot friends right now. Let them come in the swarms, I’ll tear them apart to survive just like I had to tear **_him_** apart!” Solarflare hissed, closing his eyes and sighing, resting his hands on his abdomen.   
The Triple-Changer groaned and stepped backwards from Spike, still clenching his Fusion Cavity doors, and strolled over to a wall opposite the shelves Spike was trapped upon and sat against it, breathing heavily. Whilst the other Humanoids may register this drowsy behaviour as a side-effect from the male the Decepticon consumed, Spike and Chip knew that this was a sign that his pregnancy was indeed real; and it was a big one at that.   
When Starscream said he was going to give Solarflare everything he had, he meant it.   
  
The scientist was bloated from his brewing young and the contents he recently consumed, and drifted to sleep casually ignoring the profanities being verbally thrown at him. As he slept, Spike steadily made his way down from the shelves and sneaked towards the Energon Cage “Chip, how do I shut this thing off?” he whispered, not being able to see any switches or the like nearby.   
“This device doesn’t use a switch; you need to Null the Energon with a ray of some sort...a Null Ray.” Chip answered.   
The duo thought for a moment, before looking towards the slumbering Decepticon “How can we get Solarflare to shoot the cage with his Null Ray without killing one of us?” Chip asked, raiding his pockets for something that might help Spike in provoking the Triple-Changer into trying to shoot him, when suddenly an idea popped into his head; a very dangerous idea.   
“Spike, take my pocketknife. Go and try to cut down one of the Pods.” Chip began, handing him the item “Be as loud as you can to get his attention, then I’ll regain it from him using a hologram from my watch to make it look like you’re stood by the cage. That should make him shoot.” He added. Spike nodded before rushing behind cover and working his way to the Pods, watching the slumbering Solarflare carefully along with the other trapped Humans, who had now gathered to whisper as they hoped the Witwicky boy could free them.   
  
Spike started to climb up to one of the pods, drawing Chips pocketknife blade as he got within cutting distance of one; and through the thick Energon Jelly he could see it, one of the young stirring in its sleep, its arms wrapped around itself with its eyes firmly shut.   
Spike hesitated to cut down the Pod as he got a closer look and could only just make out the infant smirking, before what looked like a faceplate formed over its mouth and nose.   
The Witwicky boy glanced down to Solarflare who stirred, and noticed that this young had been baited with remains from a car. Alarm bells began to sound in Spikes mind as he shot his gaze back to the pod upon hearing the mass begin to rip, and to his shock the young had started to claw its way out of the shell of Energon.   
Spike dropped the knife in amazement, as the hand of the young finally reached air and grasped tightly onto the baiting hook before it. The second hand then peeled its way out and grasped the chunk of car scrap, before the young finally forced its head from the Pod and began crying.   
In an instant of the young creating noise Spike ducked behind cover, as expected Solarflare awakened immediately to assist the young down. But another Decepticon had arrived before him...  
  
Soundwave had heard the young long before it began crying, and had bolted into the room just as Solarflare awakened before he started helping it break free from the rest of the Pod. But his attempts to help the young escape the Energon had prevented him from seeing how he was holding it.   
“Wave! Don’t hold them like that! You might--!” Solarflare yelled as the blue Decepticon became careless, and was too slow to respond as the young kicked itself free from the Energon Pod and crashed to the floor.   
Soundwave twitched as Solarflare slapped him hard across the head repeatedly as he recovered the fallen infant, which didn’t seem to be affected by the huge fall it had encountered.   
“First young is male.” Soundwave informed, receiving one last slap across the head from his SparkMate as he handed the male to its mother “you **_fool_**!!” Solarflare hissed, slapping Soundwave on the head causing him to back away slightly. The Triple-Changing Scientist chuckled as his mate twitched, not knowing what to do, as he examined their young “Strange, he’s hatched in full colour. And I don’t remember either of us having black in our colour pallet.” Solarflare began, tickling the young in his arms and observing as it happily retracted and recovered its faceplate like a plaything “A real enigma, don’t you think Wave?” Solarflare chuckled, carrying the newborn against his chest as he sat against the wall again.   
  
“What should we call this one?” Soundwave asked, sitting alongside his mate to watch the seemingly blind youngster get comfortable in his arms. Solarflare gazed lovingly down at the infant and opened his chest doors, pulling out a tube from his left compartment “Enigma. He will be called Enigma.” He answered calmly, watching with surprise as the newly named young grasped the tube from his hand and began feeding “He can see too...this one is special.” The Triple-Changer purred as he looked up at the three remaining Pods that had not yet been baited “Car parts were effective. What is your suggestion for our next bait type?” Soundwave asked.  
Solarflare squinted in pain as Enigma became aggressive, and forced the Energon tube from him to calm him down “Hang the melted iron on the next ones, and cover the iron in that strange fruit juice that smelt horrible. Then hang a human on the one after those.” He instructed, allowing Enigma to snatch back the tube and continue receiving Energon.   
Soundwave nodded before getting back to his feet, and approached the crate containing the oranges. The Decepticon stopped his approach when he noticed the dropped Pocketknife lying on the floor, and drew his weapon.   
  
“Wave, if you can hear something scurrying around it’s probably that human I let out. He’s just a rodent, so ease your concern.” Solarflare sighed, until seeing his SparkMate pick up and display the knife. Upon the visual of the blade the Triple-Changer stared in shock and clung to Enigma tighter “...he was going to attempt termination of our young. I request all but one of the Humans be terminated immediately.” Soundwave asked as he crushed the blade effortlessly and eyed the imprisoned fleshlings, shooting a glare at Chip Chase as he remembered the youth being an Autobot ally.   
“No Wave, let the ones in the cage go but one; a female. The one who tried to kill our children is already out of the cage, so find him and do what you want when you catch him.” Solarflare ordered, stroking Enigmas’ head tenderly.   
The Triple-Changer was not like the others; he may enjoy pain himself, and the taste of the Human lifeblood, but he was capable of showing mercy. He would only kill to ensure the survival of his young and to help them grow big and strong, for not once had he terminated a single Autobot or intended to do so. And any fleshlings he killed in the past were a result of carelessness or self defence.   
Even the Autobots admit that Solarflare was a very different Decepticon compared to all others they faced, and if he ever decided to switch sides they’d have accepted him with open arms. But they also knew that he was created a Decepticon, and carries an honour based around their beliefs. This ruled out the hopes of him changing sides willingly, but if one of his SparkMates was on their side would he follow them? What if one of his young switched sides?   
  
Soundwave approached the Humans and hauled them out of the building within the cage, before releasing them to do as they pleased with the exception of one female as requested by Solarflare. Little did he know that Spike had snuck back into the cage whilst the Decepticons dealt with their young hatching, and was now also free and ready to get the Autobots to crash down on the Decepticons taking refuge within Colorado.   
“Chip, let’s get to the authorities and get in touch with Optimus Prime. He’ll deal with this!” Spike suggested once Soundwave took his leave, helping the disabled youth up and escorting him to the Authorities.  
  
-  
  
Several hours later and back inside, Astrotrain and Thundercracker joined the three SparkMates in the Sanctuary to meet the Sparklings; Solarflare was assisting two more in hatching with Soundwave which had been baited out with scrap metal covered in orange juice (which to them, smelt horrible), whilst Starscream was left to handle the highly aggressive Enigma.   
With the two other young hatched, Solarflare had three hungry Decepticons to feed and could only feed two at a time. And to make the situation more complicated no one could tell which of the new twins was Alpha and which was Beta.   
  
“Alpha was the second to hatch.” Solarflare informed, now holding all three of the young in his arms “But they’re both identical, how can we tell which one is Alpha?!” Starscream whined before being hugged from behind by Soundwave “I told Flare we shouldn’t confirm their names until they start to interact.” He hummed.   
“The last one hasn’t even budged, is it even alive?” the Seeker sighed, changing the subject and pulling himself free from the Decepticons arms. Solarflare nodded to Soundwave as he struggled to remember who he had to feed next and decided to pass on the burden to Starscream “Screamer, take Enigma and feed him if he starts crying. Wave, bait the last hook with the human female.” He ordered, standing upright and placing Enigma within the ex-Decepticons arms.   
The Seeker pouted upon receiving the youngster, who immediately assaulted his chest to find a source of Energon “This isn’t fair!!” Starscream whined as the youth finally found what he was looking for and violently began feeding “If anything, it’s not fair on me. I have two here and you have only one. And Wave, bait the hook!!” Solarflare growled, watching with a sharp glare as Soundwave rushed to the hook with the Human in his hand and stood before the Pod in silence.   
  
“...well? Tie her to it!” the Triple-Changer hissed.  
  
Soundwave tied the female to the hooks but couldn’t help but continue to stare at the last Pod; something inside of him made him want to crush it within his hands, but he couldn’t understand why such a brutal thought had come to mind.   
His SparkMate tilted his head as he took sharp notice of the cold stares Soundwave gave to the last Hatchling, suspecting that he knew something Solarflare didn’t. And surely enough one thing the Decepticon knew was that the young would not hesitate to escape its prison once it caught the smell of the female an inch away from its Energon shell; Solarflare had ensured the female was terrified to increase the oils within the skin, and for the human scent to strengthen.  
  
A moment after the female was tied to the hooks, they heard it; the young stirring within its Pod. A short wait and the first claw-like finger emerged, and in excitement Solarflare handed the twins to Thundercracker and rushed to the Pod to witness the whole left hand of the youth rip through its shell and into the human females back.   
The Triple-Changer scooted his vision around the whole Pod as the hand retracted, and he could faintly make out the sounds of the youngster inside growling seconds before both of its clawed hands ripped through the Pod Shell and began attacking the Human without remorse.   
Solarflare chirped as the youngster once again retracted itself, trying to entice it to keep working its way out, but all the Sparkling did was continue to attack the Human from within its safe Pod.   
Soundwave was growing ever more impatient compared to his mate; the Decepticon snapped the Pods support and carried the young from the Human victim “If you want your Human treat, evict yourself.” He announced bitterly, receiving a heavy bite to his leg from the youth within as a response.   
  
Solarflare rushed to the Pod and broke the base to grasp the youngster inside, and steadily pulled them out by the back “They’re just a Sparkling, they don’t understand us yet.” Solarflare sighed, finally excavating the whole youngster from the Pod much to its great disliking “Another male, this one looks a bit different to the others.” Solarflare chuckled, examining the weapon formed on the back of the youth, which he used immediately on his mother, not knowing what was going on around him (due to him being temporarily blind).   
“He’s got some fight in him too, from the looks of him.” Starscream groaned, finally forcing Enigma to stop biting on his framework and Energon tube.   
Solarflare chuckled and held the youth towards his chest, and prepared to feed him when to his great displeasure he found his tank to be empty. Soundwave shuddered upon the ‘innocent’ stare his mate gave to him, which obviously meant he had to either feed the newborn himself or go out and gather Energon for him.   
The blue Decepticon calmly turned around and left without saying a word or even making eye contact, to gather Energon whilst the remaining group started thinking of a name for the newcomer.  
  
“Omega, it would sit well with the other names.” Thundercracker suggested, only to be nudged with force by Astrotrain “The damn Autobots have a soldier called Omega Supreme, we’re not having a Decepticon take such a foul name.”   
Solarflare nodded in agreement as he embraced the youngster, closing his eyes as he felt the Sparklings processor rumble in hunger and heard him chirp for Energon. Unfortunately his real meal would be some time, and he’d have to substitute with consuming the Human Females blood instead to sooth him. The female had perished already from the attacks the youngster gave, and became a plaything of sorts between Enigma and his blind young brother.   
  
“What about Gama?” Starscream suggested relaxing against the wall as the twins stumbled over his feet; the Triple-Changer purred as a response, watching Enigma and now named Gama play with one another after taking what they wanted from the human.   
“Want me to clean up the mess, Solar?” Astrotrain offered, with the mess being the Pod remains and the mutilated human “Not necessary, Astro. I need to return the Pod matter to my system, to recycle it, and the human...would suffice as another snack.” The scientist chuckled as he gathered the remains from the Hatchling Pods and liquefied them into a jar, before salvaging the human and consuming it along with the liquefied Pods to Enigmas disliking; the youth roared a harsh battle-cry and charged at his mother’s feet, and began slamming his fists against his legs screaming in rage. Alpha (or perhaps it’s Beta) crashed into the other foot, causing the Sparkling Twin to cry on impact.   
“Is there any way to speed up the rate they will be able to see? One week of this would be...difficult...” Thundercracker asked, folding his arms as he prevented the second twin from walking into a wall.   
  
“It’s possible to cut the wait down to two days, if they go outside and absorb sunlight.” Solarflare answered, picking up the crying twin and soothing it on his shoulder, patting his back. Astrotrain retrieved Enigma who was still roaring “That space outside is covered enough for smaller Decepticons to wander in without notice, but if I go outside I’d stick out like a sore antenna.” He announced handing Enigma to Starscream as Solarflare passed the second twin to Thundercracker and hauled up Gama himself.   
“Me, Screamer and Thunder will go outside with them. You can stay in the Warehouse until they leave the Sparklings outside with me.” Solarflare answered, strolling slowly from the room carrying Gama with the others following shortly behind him.   
Speeding up their vision would be vital should the Autobots get wind of where their base was located, and the next thing on the agenda afterwards was getting them to talk.  
  
-  
  
Solarflare was indeed right about the young’s vision developing faster if they were exposed to sunlight for so many hours for two days, and it seemed all of them except Enigma could talk after two weeks of hatching; as for the Autobots, it seemed Chip Chase and Spike Witwicky couldn’t recall the exact location of the Sanctuary. However the Autobots were now aware of the State and even the City that the small Decepticon group had settled in.   
Security had to be upped and discipline had to be executed with the greatest efficiency until the young could be relocated; relocation could take longer the younger the Sparklings were, and Solarflare was certain that until they turned eight months old they’d have to stay put.  
  
Three weeks, four weeks, two months later; Enigma still wasn’t talking. He would only communicated through battle-cries and roaring sounds much to his mother’s distastes, and to Soundwaves embarrassment as his father. But Enigma’s talking problem wasn’t the real concern as the months strolled by; Gama’s personality was starting to push through, and he was learning the art of Transformation rather rapidly.   
At six months old he was transforming already; the earliest age he should be able to do it is nine months! If the form he took wasn’t such a worry the other Decepticons in the Sanctuary would be amazed. But becoming a gun and blasting anything in sight as practice made Soundwave and Starscream suspect the youth; just where were the traits from Soundwave in this Sparkling? Solarflare knew why the absence was there but didn’t care. He was too busy struggling to feed the growing young and keeping himself healthy to think about other matters.   
  
Over those six months Solarflare ran out of Energon and reached critical stages on eight occasions; leaving Soundwave rushing around stealing Energy from various sources without a moments rest, and Starscream happily lounging in the sun playing ‘guardian’ to the Sanctuary.   
Thundercracker was acting as decoy for any Autobots scouting the area, leading them to places which did indeed host Decepticon activity, but not _their activity_ back at the Sanctuary.   
Astrotrain was assigned Material Gatherer and secondary Guardian, taking shifts between both jobs with Starscream.   
And besides having power problems what was Solarflare doing? Preparing for delivery, that’s what. For every minute of every day the Triple-Changer was in agony; he could hardly sleep and any Energon he did get was quickly depleted.   
  
Soundwave was starting to suspect that Starscream may have given their SparkMate a bit too much, as never before had the Decepticon seen him so bloated and weak; not even in the last pregnancy. On top of that, he seemed to be late by a whole month; was he really producing so many youngsters that it required more time and materials? Delivery-time would answer that nagging question...whenever that was going to be. Which reminded Soundwave to rehearse his delivering techniques he picked up from Scrapper whenever he has the time in his busy schedule of hording Energy for such a routinely task.  
  
The busy nature of Soundwave and the weak nature of Solarflare meant that playtime for Starscream was limited, especially now that they were preparing to relocate their Sanctuary, and he found himself rather bored at times just lounging on the roof of the warehouse. And today was like any other day; Wave was out gathering Energon, Thundercracker was spying on both Autobots and Decepticons and was working as a decoy, and Astrotrain had gone to Cybertron to gather supplies as instructed by Solarflare himself leaving the seven month old youngsters in Starscreams care.  
“Pass me the ball, Alpha!” laughed Beta as the four Sparklings played in the courtyard, with their ‘oh-so-watchful’ babysitter snoozing on the roof not exactly doing his job “Think fast, bro!!” Alpha cheered as he tossed the Football to his twin, only for Enigma to tackle it midair and crash into a dumpster.   
  
The twins laughed and rushed Enigma, hyperactive as always, as Gama stood in the shade and watched with a heavy glare “Enigma, pass me the ball!” Alpha panted, rushing side to side and shoving his twin from Enigmas sight each time.   
The mute breathed heavily and roared, retracting his faceplate to rip the ball apart with his fangs before consuming the leftovers, covering his face again once he swallowed the contents.   
“Awww not again! We need another ball now!” Beta sighed, stepping aside so Enigma could rush around and swing his axe at birds that dared to land in the courtyard.   
Gama groaned as he removed himself from the wall, shoving the twins aside as he shot one of the birds effortlessly turning it into a smoking mess “Hey punk, no shooting unless you want to get shot at. Got it?” Starscream yawned, slipping on his sun-visor as he continued to relax.   
“I’ve never seen you put your guns up anything but your own tailpipe, Loser.” The youth growled, shooting another bird forcing his babysitter to sit upright and raise his visor “Hey! What did I just tell you?! Don’t make me confiscate that weapon, Gama!” Starscream hissed.  
  
Alpha and Beta circled Gama and began teasing him, with Enigma still swinging his axe around screaming battle-cries. The gun-slinging youth tensed up as Starscream returned to relaxing, and pushed the twins from him before approaching the main gate and hopping over it “I shouldn’t have to take this junk from a traitor!” Gama growled as he took his leave, with Alpha and Beta folding their arms and looking to one another like scheming little devils before following their ‘leader’, leaving Starscream none the wiser of their departure.  
  
On the other side of the fence, Gama began strolling down the sidewalk salvaging scraps of metal, with some humans continuing their work as normal thinking of him as some Autobot droid, whilst others didn’t know what to make of him and just stood to watch.   
Alpha and Beta shuffled behind their brother and watched also, but in a more teasing manner much to the gunslingers disapproval “Can’t you two go swindle some Energon for mother so she can feed us?!” Gama snapped throwing a soda can he found at one of their heads, which caused Alpha to smirk and slyly edge himself alongside the angry sibling “We both got into thinking...” he began as Beta repeated the same movement “...maybe we could gather Energon together for mother.” Beta finished as he recovered the soda can, examining it and scooting towards a trash can to find more.   
  
Gama turned with his hands on his hips to the twins and nodded his head “Let me guess, you want to try your luck at the power plant again.” Gama sighed; Alpha chuckled before nodding his head immediately receiving a groan from the gun slinging youth; who then began rubbing his eyes tiredly, muttering that stealing from the power plant never works.   
“It does work, we filled an Energon Cube!” Beta whined, stuffing his storage compartment with Soda Cans “And mother consumes two on average every day, and that’s when she doesn’t feed us. Also Soundwave fills four each trip he does and he goes on three to six trips every day. That’s twelve to twenty four cubes, and those normally go quickly. Face the facts you two; we can’t help mother that way.” Gama explained, shuffling to another trash can and searching inside it.   
Alpha lowered his head and muttered “You mean ‘father’” as Gama chewed on a scrap of metal he found in the garbage, before spitting it out to speak his comeback. “No. I’m a Slimeball just like the Loser says I am...I don’t know who my father really is. I just know it’s not Soundwave or him.”   
The three youths looked away from one another, keeping their focus either on their feet or searching the trash for anything to consume.   
The lack of Energon meant the Sparklings had to consume anything they could find to supplement it.   
  
It would have been Astrotrains job but he was busy gathering tools for Solarflare, and in his absence it was all down to Starscream. But everyone knew he’d never go out scouting for Energon Supplements. He wasn’t even committed to watching the youngsters let alone tending to their needs, which left Thundercracker and the other ‘guests’ feeling worried for how he’d cope as a father...and taking the duties Soundwave currently has.  
The youngsters didn’t care or even think on those subjects, they were too busy keeping themselves alive.   
Gama gnawed up a slither of tin metal looking very unhappy with how it tasted, whilst Beta cheered as he found some stainless steel cutlery. Alpha wrapped his arms around his stomach as he felt his Energon processors churn, but unlike his other brothers he was a fussy eater. He’d never consume anything from the garbage unless he was given the choice between it and death.   
  
“I’m a Slimeball, living on the damn street with no Energon and picking scraps from the trash! I feel ashamed...” Gama hissed, raiding the can again for more metal but finding nothing.   
“You’re still half our brother, so help us to help mother.” Alpha began, looking to his brother Beta in disgust as he munched down the Soda Cans he collected. Gama kicked the garbage can over and growled bitterly, attempting to clean his tongue with his thumb and finger only to show further disgust, before turning to Alpha and pouting. “Fine...but instead of hitting the power plant, help me wire some power from one of the Pylons near here. We should be able to take two Energon Cubes worth of power without being harassed by our babysitter if we hit a...less complicated location.” Gama suggested, lowering his tone as more humans had stopped in the street to watch them.   
Alpha nodded in agreement, grasping Beta and slapping the Soda Cans from his hands whilst telling him to ‘stop eating that garbage’.   
  
Unfortunately for some that the stares were not directed at Gama and his little force...but they were at Enigma, who had shown up in the last minute to consume from the trash himself.  
“Enigma, don’t eat anything from that!” Alpha shrieked, hauling the black and red Sparkling from his snack pot “We’re going to get pure Energon for us and mother, isn’t that right Gama?” Alpha added, having to dodge Enigmas axe as the Sparkling became greatly unhappy by the disturbance.   
Gama chuckled and folded his arms “That’s right. And Enigma you came at the right time to help us reach a source of Energy. Transform.”  
The muted youth roared a battle-cry as he transformed into his Monster Truck mode and continued to make growling sounds as his siblings hitched a ride in his rear cargo bed “Good. Now take us to the nearest Pylon. Be quick but don’t attract unwanted attention.” Gama instructed, stumbling in the cargo bed as Enigma fired his engine and drove full throttle into the city, making a great deal of noise with his horn and roaring engine.  
  
Several hours later and the Sparklings had gathered more than two Energon Cubes from a single Pylon. Gama was overseeing Alpha and Beta as they filled their fifth of the day, and was also keeping a close eye on three Humans they’d captured after they grew a little too curious as to what the Sparklings were doing.   
“Mother will be really happy when she sees this Energon! And look at the Humans we caught!” Beta cheered, filling up the remaining Energon for the Cube. Alpha trailed over to one of the Humans and yanked them towards Beta enthusiastically “Hey Beta! Let’s split this one in half so we can have it as a pet!” he suggested, until being interrupted by Gama.   
“You can’t do that.” The gunslinger informed “What?! Why not?!” Alpha whined, releasing the Human “Because Mother and Soundwave will be pissed off at all of us. Humans leave a mess when you split them in half or kick them too hard.” Alpha titled his head and folded his arms, before humming “Hmmm...Good point.”  
  
Gama hauled the last Energon Cube to rest against the others, before spawning a new empty shell of one “Anyway, it’s a good thing Enigma showed up to help, but where did he go off to?” he asked as he began filling the empty cube with Pure Energon. Such an Energon matter was powerful and was meant to be consumed by adults, as the pureness of the Energy would result in either drunkenness or overload sickness if consumed by a Sparkling.   
The youths needed either Raw Energon or Compressed Energon, and they could only get both types from their mother. Compressed Energon could be obtained from any Decepticon Male who possessed the right equipment to store backup Energy. Unfortunately this ruled poor Astrotrain and Soundwave from the ‘Nanny’ List, and both Starscream and Thundercracker felt uncomfortable being caught feeding youngsters. This meant either Seeker had to be forced into being the Nanny, with Starscream usually being slapped with the job...and as expected he fails to do the job correctly if at all.  
“Who cares, he’s probably gone to find more balls to munch on!” Alpha whined, picking up an Energon Cube alongside his twin brother Beta “Let’s get this Energon and the human treats to mother and—.”   
  
WHOOSH. The sound of a jet screeching overhead cut Alpha off and this was no ordinary jet, this was their ‘Nanny’; the ‘oh so careless’ Starscream.   
“There you are!! PRIMUS. You nearly got me killed by Flare for running off! From now on you’re not permitted outside without Astrotrain watching you!” Gama hissed as the Seeker transformed into Robot Mode and apprehended the three of them, taking the chance to seize the Energon Cubes from them also “Why is that, Loser? Are you not capable of being a parent and watching over a handful of kids?! I feel bad for mother knowing she’s carrying more of my siblings...from you!” the gunslinger flailed, attempting to transform into his gun-mode only to be restrained easily by his caretaker.   
“Don’t test my patience you Slimeball! Hush your mouth or I’ll rip out your vocal processors!”  
Gama silenced himself for the moment and focused more on transforming back to normal, but Starscream was able to handle him better in his gun-mode and was also able to avoid being attacked by the youth. Alpha and Beta were next to be restrained and hauled into the storage unit Starscream brought along “Starscreamer, why do you always threaten Gama?” Alpha questioned, watching as Beta was being strapped into the storage unit “It’s Starscream, Beta. And he’s a Slimeball, so I can say what I want to him.”   
“I’m not Beta.”   
“ _And I don’t care_. Now get in and shut up or there will be hell to pay.” Starscream hissed, nudging the dim-coloured blue and yellow Sparkling into the unit and strapping him in before pushing the Energon Cubes into behind him. Gama continued to squirm in his gun-mode as the unit was raised up by Starscreams grapple hooks in his jet mode, with the youth ending his efforts to escape as they were flown off back home.  
  
-  
  
Back at the Sanctuary, all four Sparklings had been locked in their chamber as punishment for wandering too far away from home, and Starscream was in for a lecture he most certainly was not prepared for.   
“Screamer, I don’t like it when we have to meet like this.” Solarflare sighed, resting against the wall with his hands on his swollen abdomen-belly area. Starscream held back a gag as the smell of his SparkMate hit him as he entered the room, the smell of his chemicals (hormones) growing stronger each day as the pregnancy dragged on. He could make out a lighter scent beneath the more repulsing odours; a sweet smell, one that would resemble that of honey or another sugary item. The lighter scent was obviously Solarflares normal chemicals, which soothed the churning within Starscreams processor caused by the less liked smell.   
“Screamer, look at me when I’m talking to you.” Solarflare growled as he observed his partner avoiding eye contact “Starscream!” he roared, finally gaining the ex-Decepticons eyes. The Seeker glanced cautiously at his mate, and still attempted to look at anything but the very sour stares he was getting, failing of course due to Solarflare being very bitter with even the slightest attempt at looking away.   
  
“You failed at the most important job in this Sanctuary.” Solarflare began, before being interrupted by Starscream gawking and putting up his arms “Let me guess, you’re disappointed. Well I’m disappointed too.” He said calmly, steadily forming eye-contact with his partner “I’m not disappointed, I’m furious! Starscream, if you can’t look after Soundwaves young how will you ever be able to look after your own?!” Solarflare began squinting in pain as he increased his voice, struggling to keep his cool as Starscream continued to increase his frustration “It’s not like I abandoned them...” he shrugged, until being pushed in the chest.    
“You did abandoned them!” Solarflare snapped.   
“No I didn’t, I was at my post!” Starscream defended.   
“Then how did this happen?!”   
  
Starscream lowered his head and stared at his feet, before muttering “Things like this happen to every couple.”   
Solarflare deepened his breaths as he hauled himself towards a desk and sat against it, regaining his breathing pattern before snapping at his mate “But we’re not a couple! Soundwave is in this with us, or did you forget that already?!” The Triple-Changer exhaled in pain as Starscream once again put up a defence, this time by flashing a ‘kicked-puppy’ look to his partner “Real families don’t have two fathers living together with one mate.”   
The attempt at gaining pity from the Triple-Changer was all for none, as the chemicals within him (aka hormones) left him feeling no pity for anyone but his young and himself. He scowled, adjusting his position on the desk to haul down one of the Energon Cubes Starscream apprehended from the youths “I thought you were the one who appreciated ‘change’? Well this family is the start of a change; not to just our faction either, but our whole race.” He began, softening his tone a little “From that change to the next, we’ll shape the future for the Decepticons and in the end hopefully our young will fix all the errors both factions have made up to this point.” Solarflare finished, drinking the Energon.   
  
Starscream sighed “I’ll accept that, but nothing will change my opinion on Gama. I know he’s not Soundwaves Offspring.” The instant Gama’s name was mentioned, Solarflare stopped drinking and lowered his tone again “Leave the boy out of this-”   
“-but he came from Megatron, the beast who hacked you. Don’t tell me you have...feelings for him-”  
“-I’m past that, and him! He doesn’t love me, but Gama does!” Solarflare snapped, causing Starscream to sigh“...and you still keep him even though you know what he could become?” he questioned, folding his arms and leaning closer to the pregnant Decepticon “Of course! He’s my baby and I’ll do all I can to defend him!” the Triple-Changer answered, nudging Starscream from him to gain some space. The nudge didn’t sit too well on the Seeker, and he retaliated with a heavy pout “What is wrong with you...you hated the idea of producing any young for him, now you keep the only one he managed to get from you?!” he snapped.   
Solarflare shot a bitter and cold stare to his SparkMate, which immediately caused the Seeker to retreat his pitiful attempt at intimidating him.   
The Triple-Changer hissed and finished drinking his Energon, before throwing the empty Cube at Starscream “...what’s wrong with me?! WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME?! I’ll tell you; it’s YOU. You can’t even watch a handful of Sparklings!” he snapped.   
  
The room fell silent for a few moments, which felt like hours to the pair, after the outburst. It was the lingering thoughts in the Triple-Changers mind that restored the conversation “I’m worrying; Screamer...and I really shouldn’t have to...” he explained, wandering to a wall to lean against for support “Why worry? This happens...I’ll just make sure it never happens again.” The ex-Decepticon tried to reassure his mate, lowering his tone to sound softer and less threatening “How did it happen this time though?” the bloated scientist questioned, sounding very concerned.   
Starscream opened his mouth to speak but the words just wouldn’t roll out from his vocal processors, he knew what he wanted to say, it was just saying it that was difficult.   
After failing to speak twice Starscream sighed and muttered “Don’t worry about it...” to his mate, breaking eye-contact with him entirely and folding his arms.   
Solarflare narrowed his eyes, still determined to find out what went wrong with Starscreams attempts at being the Nanny “Come on, tell me. I’m dying to hear.” He requested with a slither of sarcasm in his voice. Starscream kept his eyes on his feet, only raising his gaze to look at the wall on his far right to see the empty Podling units already equipped with baiting hooks.   
The ex-Decepticon kept his gaze on the units and let a sigh slip from his mouth “Stop being sarcastic.” He muttered, not noticing the cold stares Solarflare was giving him “I’m not being sarcastic. Seriously, tell me.” The scientist requested, coughing to regain his mates gaze so he could see just how serious he was being.   
  
The mounting pressure of showing just how unworthy he was as a Nanny made Starscream worry about being a father, he just wasn’t cut out for the job and knew nothing about it; so how is it then that Soundwave and even Astrotrain knew what to do? Who taught them? And more importantly, when did they learn and where? He never recalled any such lessons being in the Decepticon forces, or even when he worked in the sciences. Was it learnt elsewhere or was it just instinctive programming?   
He couldn’t understand, he wouldn’t understand; not until he held his own young. Only then would the first hurdle be passed, but right now he had to build up the speed to jump over it. And to start with he’d have to cooperate with his mate to ensure he was heading in the right direction.  
  
“Well...they seemed to be behaving...so I just...shut my eyes for a bit.” Starscream answered, rubbing the back of his helmet.   
Solarflare flat-browed in an instant, displaying that he was not at all pleased with what he just heard “You went to sleep.” He said coldly “No, I just shut my eyes for a moment.” Starscream defended. The duo locked their eyes onto one another’s, and the sparks and circuitry within them started to fire. This argument was going to get worse if Starscream didn’t watch what he said.   
“UGH, just admit it!!” Solarflare pouted, growing impatient with Starscreams attempts to make up excuses “I’m telling the truth! I just shut my eyes, I wasn’t sleeping!” the Seeker responded, sounding just as angry as his Hermaphrodite companion “Your excuses are making me want to strangle you! I’m having second thoughts about delivering these Hatchlings because of this!”   
  
Silence.   
  
Once Solarflare mentioned Starscreams unborn young and how he was having second thoughts about bringing them into the world the duo stopped speaking. Solarflare continued to deliver his furious stares whilst attempting to hold back signs of pain, and Starscream stared back at his SparkMate in total shock. But then under the mounting pressure, the ex-Decepticon pushed the chemical scientist that bit too far “But...I worked so hard to produce them—”   
“-get out.” Solarflare cut his partner short, lowering his gaze to the floor as said partner questioned him with “What?”   
The Triple-Changer twitched in annoyance and rage, before screaming “GET OUT!”  
 Starscream approached his pregnant SparkMate slowly “But Flare...” he said softly, only to be slapped across the face by said SparkMate “OUT!! JUST...get out...” Solarflare screamed, lowering his voice as he slowly burst into tears and slipped down onto the floor. Starscream remained stood up and watched as his mate began crying, not sure of what to do. He wanted to reassure his partner that everything would be alright, but at the same time he knew that if he didn’t leave now Solarflare would just get more upset.   
So it was either walking out the door to let the scientist recover by himself, or staying to comfort him. If he wasn’t as annoyed as to why Solarflare just burst out into a fit of rage a moment ago, he’d have chosen to stay longer. But no; he was leaving.   
Where would he go? Some Power Plant to make Energon Cubes; which he could hopefully use to win back Solarflare’s confidence in him with.  
  
Once his mate departed, Solarflare felt his Spark dim. He was seriously rethinking his plans, rethinking his relationship with Starscream, rethinking about having his young. Inside he still loved the Seeker dearly, but being with him for long periods of time was painful.   
He didn’t know anything about parenting, he didn’t know when to admit failure and worst of all he didn’t respect Solarflare doing all the work to produce the young. Instead he claims he went through all the trouble, but they were not nestled inside of him. He didn’t have to go through labour or carrying the young. If only Starscream understood that and respected Solarflare’s job better, then perhaps living with him would be more pleasant after all he was an excellent lover and possessed the genetics the Triple-Changer desired the most.   
Solarflare breathed heavily as he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep, only to awaken a moment later when he felt his processors crave for input. The Energon satisfied him, but the cravings were for minerals and oils to feed the young inside of him with along with restore the depleting substances within himself.   
  
He raised himself up to slowly make his departure, knowing that all his assistants and mates were busy doing other tasks, when he remembered that no one was around to protect the young. If Starscream had stayed then perhaps he could have fetched the minerals he needed, but the Seeker left. And Solarflare couldn’t help but speculate that the ex-Decepticon had departed to either juice himself up on Energon or frag-off. But he was so focused on his brewing young that he couldn’t concentrate on making a telepathic link between himself and any of his allies, he was alone and had two choices to make; feed himself and his brewing young whilst leaving the Sparklings to fend for themselves for a while, or stay to protect them causing himself to suffer a bit longer from lack of the minerals he needed to keep healthy.   
If he wasn’t so worried about the recent activity of Autobots in the vicinity, he’d have happily left the Sparklings alone for an hour.  
But the situation was growing critical; he had to gather oil-based minerals to replenish himself with, otherwise he’d be unable to move and would stop giving the young within him the items they needed to grow bigger and faster.   
The decision was made much to his great disliking after all he made a promise to himself; no more children will die. Even if inside his mind he would willingly allow his unborn young to perish, inside of his Spark he couldn’t do it no matter how much he didn’t want them.   
  
He asked himself; should he terminate the pregnancy, would that make him a monster? A murderer? He felt his logic circuits tingle, creating a headache, as the lack of minerals within him made even the most simple of actions difficult. On one hand he’d be abandoning the young, leaving them to the mercy of anyone or anything that investigated the warehouse, but on the other he’d be responsible for the deaths of the unborn.   
The scientist placed his hands on his swollen Fusion Cavity and looked down at the bulge, sighing as he slowly made his way out of his quarters to visit his hatched youngsters.  
Upon opening the door Solarflare saw Alpha and Beta sat playing games with scrap parts and Enigma hacking up a box with his axe, but he didn’t see Gama.   
  
“Mother, you don’t look well” said the purple-tinted youth, causing Solarflare to turn to the spot behind the door to find the missing Sparkling “that’s because I need to go out. To gather minerals.” He answered, unable to bend down to cuddle his infant due to the bulge obstructing him.   
“Oh I get it. You need to feed his...” Gama began, eyeing his mothers bulged abdomen area “...I’d leave them to die, mother. They’ll grow to be worthless; bringing you more pain.” He finished, looking back up to his eyes.   
Solarflare sighed and narrowed his eyes still questioning himself, until Alpha and Beta rushed to his feet and began asking for Energon “I’m sorry sweethearts; I don’t have enough minerals and Energon to feed you yet.” He smiled weakly, lowering his gaze as his infants whined for their next meal. Solarflare pulled himself free from the grasp of the twins and left the room, returning to his quarters to gather a half-full Energon Cube before taking it back to the hungry youngsters “This is Pure Energon, you shouldn’t drink this usually, but we’re short on your type right now. Drink only a small amount and only when you need it.” He explained, placing the cube on the floor along with four straws.   
The Soundwave youngsters immediately rushed to the cube and began drinking, but Gama didn’t seem quite so certain.   
  
The Megatron Sparkling blocked the doorway before his mother could depart; ensuring that he needed an answer to something before the Triple-Changer could leave to tend to his needs “Gama is something bothering you?” Solarflare asked, placing his hands on his bulge as he looked down at the infant.   
Gama narrowed his eyes and lowered his arms, showing that he was satisfied with his mothers’ words “Yes mother; a question bothers me. It has for some time. And it is this; why do you love him?” he asked coldly.   
Solarflare squinted as he heard the youngster speak, not liking the cold nature of his speech and especially his Megatron-like tone. The fact he was constantly hawking him for answers about his relationship with Starscream left the fears sitting within his mind over what the youth would do to his Seeker Step-father when he grew bigger...and stronger.   
  
The infant continued to stare at his mother, seeking an answer “...one day, Gama, you’ll know why. But right now you’re too young.” Solarflare answered, stepping closer to the youngster who firmly held his ground “I’m not done asking questions, mother.” The youth muttered, before flailing as he was picked up with ease by his parent “Yes you are. You’re nearly seven months old, and you’re acting as if you’re far older. When you become the age you act as I’ll tell you everything. For now just stay with your brothers and let me regain my health.” Solarflare explained, placing Gama at the Energon Cube with his siblings. The youth huffed before turning to his mother as he took his leave “...I was only going to ask...who my father really is...”  
  
-  
  
Mineral gathering was not his idea of fun, not on the immobile and hard-to-find items anyway, but when it came to the animals or vehicles that were carrying the minerals he needed the fun surfaced. Chasing down the mammals, stalking the trucks and trains, fishing for the giant fishes and tackling down aircraft was all the fun stuff. It was the very mineral gathering topics he saved for last, to enjoy himself with before heading back home.   
  
He’d gathered rare stones from mines and compressed them, tore open a factory to extract the steel ore and was currently consuming near eighty gallons of fuel from a Gas Station. He just had to choose his next target; the mammals, the fish or a raid on some vehicles? The scientist purred as he finished emptying the pump of its fuel, sucking on the nozzle to ensure he got every last drop from the device.   
Humans who had parked their cars to fuel up shook their fists in anger at the Herm as he drifted from the empty pump to another that was even being used, and snatched the nozzle up to drink from it.   
“Hey! I was using that!!” the Human yelled as Solarflare continued to drink every drop of fuel from the pump, exhaling heavily as it finally became empty before moving onto the next one.   
“This guy isn’t going to stop until this entire station is dry! Let’s go somewhere else!” the Humanoids began to depart in anger as the Triple-Changer continued to drink the pumps dry of their fuel, but even when all six pumps had been expended he was not satisfied; in the hunger for more gasoline Solarflare hauled up cars one by one and began drinking from them, leaving many Humans stranded once he’d emptied their tanks. It was one final drink from a fire truck that ended his cravings for fuel, although the fire truck would never live down what just happened to him.   
  
“Geez, you didn’t see that did you?” Inferno blushed as Red Alert began towing him from the area once Solarflare became more occupied with the next meal on the agenda. Red Alert chuckled but didn’t answer, causing Inferno to mutter to himself.  
Solarflare licked his lips of the remains from the gasoline seductively as he eyed Humans rushing in the streets in a panic; he hungered for them, their properties and their taste.   
The scientist rushed from his position and began ambushing the Humans, but with how heavily pregnant he was he was left unable to capture them should they enter a small space. That was when a truck raced by him; red and blue with a very large trailer, smelling powerful of oil and Humanoids. The truck continued to speed its way down the street, not increasing its speed even as the Triple-Changer pursued it hungrily seeking its contents.   
If anything it slowed down as if noticing the Hermaphrodites struggle to keep up, which said Decepticon never even observed; just as he failed to observe the Autobot insignia on the front of the truck.  
  
“Solarflare has taken the bait; she is pursuing the cargo totally unaware. Wheeljack, Prowl; exercise caution.” Optimus Prime signalled his comrades, who were setting up a trap ahead of the path the Truck was taking. Solarflare increased his speed until finally making contact with the trailer doors, forcing them open with tremendous strength. The moment the Autobot Leader felt the Triple-Changer enter the compartment he slammed on his brakes, causing the intruder to lose his footing and crash into the baited trailer with the doors closing behind him.   
“W-what’s happening?!” Solarflare cried out as Wheeljack and Prowl rushed from behind a nearby building and secured the doors to their Leaders trailer “Secured. Autobots, ensure our captive cannot escape in transport.” Optimus Prime requested as several more Autobots assisted in reinforcing the doors to prevent Solarflare from escaping.   
  
“Decepticon captured and secured, Optimus.” Prowl saluted as his Leader revved his engine “Autobots; return to base before her partners discover what just happened here.” Optimus Prime informed as he began hauling the trapped Solarflare from the scene, with his Autobot comrades following close by to ensure he was securely delivered. Solarflare flailed within the tank-like prison; immersed in darkness. His only source of light was that provided by his glowing red optics, and with his night vision disabled due to the pregnancy limitations, Solarflare was near blind to what was happening.   
He could, however, hear what was going on outside the trailer and feel what was within it. The Triple-Changing scientist lowered himself onto all fours and shuffled his hands along the base of the trailer, hyperventilating as he panicked and continued to search for anything he could find.   
Optimus Prime was not certain of Solarflares condition; he didn’t know if he was pregnant or not but he tried to drive as carefully as he could, yet still maintain his speed to ensure the scientist didn’t become too distressed in the transportation.   
It seemed the bait within his trailer was indeed the needed minerals of oil and iron ore that the Herm needed, and after a moment of searching on his hands and knees he managed to find them along with a spot to rest.  
  
Solarflare wolfed-down the ore and oil without delay or even testing it for hazardous chemicals, so he was very lucky to find none within both items, minus a sedative Wheeljack had slipped into the oil to calm him down with. The Triple-Changer attempted to keep himself awake but steadily found his frame lying against the trailer floor, along with his eyes seeking to close and drift him into slumber. The exhaustion from his mineral hunt and pregnancy took its effect, and along with the aid of the sedative Solarflare had found himself drifting to sleep calmly huddled against one of the trailer walls with his hands placed on his bulged Fusion Cavity; protecting it.  
  
-  
  
The trip from Denver to the Autobot Base seemed to last an eternity, and even when Solarflare was hauled from the trailer he was still sedated. It was at this moment that the Autobots could see clearly the bulge on him, confirming his pregnancy.   
“Are my optics lying to me? Solarflare is...” Wheeljack began as he observed the sleeping Decepticon alongside his colleague Perceptor, who was conducting examinations as the Triple-Changer was being carried to the laboratory “...she’s pregnant.” He grunted in displeasure, turning to Ratchet who was beside him receiving the readings from Perceptors observations “Ratchet, you gotta admit...this is wrong.”  
  
Ratchet continued his work in silence until Solarflare was carefully laid on a padded operating table, with his arms and legs being restrained. Wheeljack glared at his fellow scientists and medical staff as they ignored him, and continued with their work “Energon output is highly unstable. We need a round of EQE: Stabilise right now.” Ratchet announced, raiding the medical bay for the item “Electrical Impulse is normal.” Perceptor informed as he received the item from Ratchet and injected it into slumbering Solarflares neck “She’s stabilising, but her systems are running in overdrive. We need to fuel her with the missing minerals in order for everything to neutralise.” Ratchet announced as he rushed to the medical bay again.   
  
Perceptor clicked his fingers towards the Autobots who carried Solarflare into the labs to gain their attention; Jetfire and Springer. “Jetfire, we need a round of Omega 3 and Zinc. Springer, bring Arcee and Blurr in here.” The microscope Autobot requested, transforming his right hand into an ultrasound device.   
Jetfire departed immediately understanding the need for the minerals, but Springer delayed with his job a moment to ask Perceptor a few questions “Why do Arcee and Blurr need to be here? This doesn’t concern them.” Springer asked, watching as the scientist began sliding the device around Solarflares bulged abdomen “Arcee is female; she may be able to help us deal with anything emotional Solarflare may express, also she volunteered to be the opposite in this research. As for Blurr; he’s a precaution for if Solarflare tries escaping.” Perceptor answered, placing a hearing device against his left cheek as he continued the ultrasound scan.   
Springer tilted his head as Ratchet rushed into the room and began injecting Solarflare with mineral supplements, before running out to fetch something else again. The Autobot Triple-Changer sighed as Perceptor requested he gather the two he asked for; taking his leave when it became apparent that any other questions he had would have to wait.  
  
“Solar...what is going on inside of you?” Perceptor muttered as his thought process was cut short at the re-arrival of Ratchet.   
“Perceptor; show the scanner readings.” The medic requested, watching as Perceptor did as he was asked and blew up an image of what he was detecting “Eighty Hatchlings; one of them displays immense size. Two look like they may be destroyed by pressure. The others...they appear normal, but not quite normal.” Perceptor answered; pointing out the individuals Hatchlings he addressed “normal but not quite normal? What do you mean?” Ratchet asked, only to be hushed as Jetfire returned with the minerals requested, allowing Ratchet to inject or directly feed the substances into the still sleeping Solarflare.   
  
Springer arrived shortly after with Blurr, who had his mouth temporarily sealed shut to prevent him waking up the Decepticon, and Arcee “Perceptor, I’m here now. Is there anything I can do?” she asked, receiving a nod from the microscope Autobot “Why yes there is; stand by and let me know of any signs of Solarflare waking up.” He informed, continuing the scanning process whilst Arcee immediately began to observe Solarflare and his struggling efforts to breathe normally.   
“She looks to be very heavy.” Arcee began, placing a hand against Solarflares forehead “In all my time in this war, I’ve never seen a single female Decepticon. She must be very lonely.” The Fembot sighed, looking towards Perceptor who was still examining the captives bulge “Shi, Arcee.  Solarflare possesses both male and female tools.” The scientist informed, taking no notice of Arcees’ sympathetic expression.   
“Wouldn’t isolating...hir...like that make them feel lonelier?” she asked, placing her hand onto Perceptors to stop his examination. The scientist scouted his eyes towards Arcee and then to Springer, removing his hand quickly after taking observation of Springer’s glares “Shi has three mates; two shi is inseparable from, and various friends and young. If anything, Solarflare is never alone.”  
  
Arcee held her hand gently against the slumbering Decepticons abdomen, and stared down at him in pity as she felt his breathing. Perceptor continued to examine the sedated Triple-Changer as Arcee leaned in closer to listen, until Springer pulled her back the instant Ratchet revealed a rather odd-looking tool.   
“Perceptor—you’re not going to--!?” Arcee gasped as said Autobot received the device from Ratchet “Negative Arcee; I’m merely going to inspect hir young. Something seems very odd about this pregnancy.” Perceptor answered, opening Solarflares Fusion Cavity doors and slowly scanning the device across the tightly sealed Plug “Good...I thought you were going to kill them.” Arcee sighed as she was released from Springers’ hold.   
Ratchet approached slowly from Perceptors side and using two l-shaped metal wires steadily opened Solarflares Cavity, allowing the microscope Autobot to scan closer to the Plug. The Decepticon twitched and gritted his teeth together, his cheeks flushing pink as the two Autobots continued to examine him.   
“Perceptor...she’s waking up...” Springer informed, taking a few steps back from the table “It’s alright Springer; she’s quite safe to be close to right now.” Ratchet chuckled as he watched the Hermaphrodite jolt his eyes open, leaning over him to make slight eye-contact “Good evening, Solarflare. Are you experiencing any pains or numbness?” he asked smiling “Any contractions of any kind?” he continued as the Decepticon turned his head slowly to observe his surroundings.   
  
He was indeed in the last place he wanted to be in this condition, besides anywhere near Megatron, he hoped the Autobots were just studying him and not planning to remove anything from him.  
Perceptor handed Wheeljack the scanning device along with some other tools that he no longer needed, before coughing to gain Solarflares attention “You’ll feel a bit...odd...whilst I examine you for a moment. Do not fear; it is just a check required for the document.” He announced, covering his hand with a gel of some kind.   
Solarflare snorted as his attempts to move and close his Fusion Cavity failed “I already feel odd with you holding me here! Release me or--*gasp*!” Solarflares demands were held off by a heavy gasp for air, as he felt Perceptors hand slip within his Cavity and begin examining “Hmm...This is most worrying...” Perceptor muttered as he continued his search “What’s the problem?” Ratchet asked as he shifted his gaze from Solarflare to Perceptor and back “...the hatchlings should have been delivered already if what I’m feeling is correct. They’re fully developed egg shells and there are many of them. It is no wonder shi is so heavily taxed of minerals and Energon.” Perceptor answered.   
  
Solarflares cheeks glowed pink, his eyes firmly shut as he tried to hold back a moan caused by Perceptors still advanced searching “This confirms what I saw in the scans. We need to either remove some of the eggs or give hir a booster to trigger delivery, otherwise continued development like this will kill all the young and...” Perceptor hesitated as he removed his hand and allowed Solarflare to close his Fusion Cavity “...and what? What else will happen?” Springer questioned, keeping a very concerned Arcee close to his side.   
Perceptor cleaned his hand of the gel and Jellergon Fluid, before turning to Solarflare with his head held low “...Solarflare will die.”

The room fell silent.   
Even with the entry of Optimus Prime, Nobot dared speak. If Solarflare didn’t deliver or allow the young to be removed from his body they’d perish, all of them. The worry did not lie in the demise of the young, but more so in why the Triple-Changer was not allowing himself to deliver.   
“Perceptor, Ratchet, Wheeljack; status report.” Optimus Prime requested, taking notice of the very unhappy looks on his teams faces “She’s pregnant; heavily...we stabilised as much as we could and neutralised the ailments we detected. But something is seriously wrong.” Ratchet answered “...what is it that’s wrong?” Optimus Prime asked, getting cut-off quite quickly by Solarflare snapping a reply “Nothing is wrong! Now let me go!” he hissed, only to find Perceptor resting his hands on his shoulders to stare him in the eyes.   
Optimus Prime approached the table and looked towards all three of his medical staff and then to the Decepticon “Solarflare is purposely delaying her delivery. We don’t know why.” Wheeljack informed, hauling out the last of the equipment “The young are a month overdue, and she has many of them. If this continues both she and the young will die, Optimus.” Ratchet added.   
  
Optimus Prime folded his arms and lowered his head; contemplating the information he was just given. He knew not to ask the question over why the Decepticon was delaying, as Solarflares stubbornness would just result in no answer anyway. It was Perceptor who knew what to ask, and how to get the answer. It was his research and documenting project anyway, so if anyone were to ask for answers it would be him.   
He wanted to study a Decepticon and Autobot female; before during and after pregnancy, and how they worked as a parent. No such project had been done in history; the risk was just too high.   
No matter the answer, it would be Optimus Primes’ decision alone of what to do next; allow Solarflare to deliver naturally if at all, or force the young out to save both their lives?  
  
The Autobot scientist waved to Blurr and Springer to leave the room leaving just himself, Optimus Prime, Arcee and Ratchet with the troublesome Solarflare. What he was about to ask was delicate, and the fewer of them there were in the room the less outside questions he’d receive over the subject. And after taking in a heave of air to ask the question, he knocked down his mental barriers and was finally able to do so.  
  
 _“Solar; why don’t you want the young anymore?”_


	11. Fear of an Autobot -part 2-

“Solar, answer me. Why are you trying to kill the hatchlings?” Perceptor asked softly, placing one of his hands against the Decepticons helmet. Said triple-changer tilted his head and sighed, narrowing his eyes as if longing for something “...you don’t want to admit what you feel, do you?” he added, circling from his position to gather some tools from a nearby desk.

Ratchet folded his arms and turned to Perceptor, who had suddenly stopped searching for the tools he wanted and slammed his hands on the desk “Perceptor, why are you so agitated?” Ratchet asked. The microscope Autobot remained silent and shook his head before rubbing his temple, trying desperately to hold back the urge to order the young to be removed.   
Such an attitude in front of Optimus Prime would make him seem desperate, and would make him look totally irrational. He had to get answers and evidence of Solarflares neglect before such a command could be made.

“Solarflare, answer my questions.” Perceptor growled, keeping his back turned on everyone and ignoring Ratchet. The Decepticon huffed and shut his eyes tightly, pretending to ignore him.  
“What kind of mother allows her children to die this way? Are all Decepticon Females like this?” Arcee questioned angrily, approaching the operating table. Solarflare hissed as the Fembot got a bit too close to his bulged abdomen for comfort, only to receive a slap from her as a form of punishment.   
“If you don’t want them anymore then give them to us! We could take care of them, give them the love they need!” Arcee snapped, watching as Solarflare retracted his attempts to look threatening and appeared to drift into a more pitiful creature; he was hurting emotionally from the choices he was left with, and was in agony physically due to the pregnancy and his delays in delivery.   
Perceptor was convinced that the Herm was delaying on purpose to allow more time to make a decision, but his time was running out rapidly as was Perceptors patience.   
  
“Optimus, this uncooperative behaviour is just delaying the delivery further. Every second counts for the survival of the young; allow me to remove them.” Perceptor requested, calming himself as he witnessed the no longer threatening nature of his Decepticon patient.  
Optimus Prime rubbed his faceplate and approached the table to look down at Solarflare; pondering over what to ask or what to command, thinking of the consequences of either decision he made thoroughly. It was that very moment before speaking that Solarflare decided to answer Perceptor and Arcee, which caused Optimus Prime to hold his breath over what decision he did make “I don’t want them to suffer or die.” The Triple-Changer began, refusing to make eye-contact with anyone “...but I...” the words were like stones in his Spark; he struggled to answer even though he knew he’d have to, but the problems with his chemicals and his condition left him sinking slowly into seeking death.   
Something else was bothering him, besides the fear over Starscreams duties as a parent being unbearable to deal with.   
  
A change in the subject had to be made, in order for him to build up the courage to say exactly what needed to be said “...you Autobots must be familiar with the Cybertronian...Lunacus...” he uttered softly to the four around him, registering a nod from Optimus Prime and Ratchet but a shrug from Arcee, and nothing from Perceptor “Affirmative. He was once an Autobot genius who switched sides and was driven mad by the Decepticon cause.” Optimus Prime answered.   
Solarflare muttered to himself as he shut his eyes, before sighing “Lunacus...created me and my Seeker brethren.” He began, but continued even as he noticed the looks of awe from the Autobots “This may not seem relevant to the questions you’ve been asking me, but believe me...they’ll be explained easily once you understand.”  
  
 _(Flashback)  
  
“I was not always this way; I was once entirely female. A pure Decepticon Breeding Unit, designed to court with the three males my master Lunacus chose for me...However at the time I had no personality, I was just a blank and emotionless shell until Vector Sigma blessed me with what you see now.”_

“Yes! Give my dear child LIFE. Fill her with passion, a thirst for knowledge, which no other being possesses in either side!” Lunacus cackled as a female Solarflare drifted from the shock of being awakened by Vector Sigma “Make her seek input from the masculine vessels; Sparked only by displays of wisdom, frame and durability!” the mad-bot continued to cackle as his prized vessel was shocked into life, only dimming his laughter once Vector Sigma had finished “It is done. Your request has been fulfilled to every detail.” _  
  
“My master did not realise that in his madness, his schematics over my framework confused Vector Sigma. The personality he wished for and the build of my body did not match, and so I was given a...frail masculine personality...instead of a feminine one.”  
  
_ “Solarflare at your command, master.” The Triple-Changer saluted, before flexing her joints “...something doesn’t feel right here...” she muttered, not noticing the look of shock from her creator “Yes...YES! Finally! A new age of Decepticons will emerge!! SOLIS, you are the beginning of that age! Produce the armies our Lord wishes!”  
  
 _“At first everything seemed normal to Lunacus, but as the days progressed he started to see that I was not the Breeding Unit he wanted; that I Solarflare, alias Solis, would not obey. He began to change my body to suit the male personality as it became apparent I would not court, making the changes steadily each day, until finally I learnt the truth; that I was to be discarded after I assisted in building the new Female Model. But the real tragedy lies in what I did that same day I earned my independence.”  
  
_ “Solarflare; alias Solis, is hereby charged with the murder of Senior Science Officer ‘Lunacus Tantalus’. What does the defendant wish to plead?” a judge bellowed within a Decepticon Prison in the city of Kaon.   
  
_“I killed him in cold Energon Blood...I was afraid of death, and afraid of failing in what I was programmed to do; learn everything I could, pass on that knowledge to the next generation so they could do the same. I was to be a living library, a source for knowledge in all of Cybertron. The fact that Lunacus could so easily try discarding me made me angry, and that alone set me off on the path I have taken my whole life.”  
  
_ “Innocent. I did nothing.” Solarflare answered, lowering his head to flash off an innocent look to the judge and jury.  
  
 _“I lied. I have done so my whole life in order to survive. Even joining the Decepticons was a lie; in Energon and Spark I was one of them, but in my mind I was my own. I refused to fight in the long wars on Cybertron and instead lived my time in the underground systems stealing from both factions, and trading information between the two for my own benefit. Lies, ALL LIES. Why I joined the Decepticons, why I became a criminal, even now why I am carrying for my own cousin Starscream.”  
  
_ “Evidence says otherwise.” The judge bellowed, waving two guards to stand alongside the restrained Solarflare who maintained his ‘innocent’ looks “We have the head of Lunacus himself.”  
The looks of innocence slipped from the Triple-Changer once the very head of his creator was brought into the courthouse, and the fear within him escalated once the judge probed the heads memory banks “We have proof within Lunacus’ memory circuits, that you Solarflare murdered your master in cold Energon. Do you maintain your plead of innocence?”  
Solarflare exhaled heavily as he felt the presence of the guards grow on him, along with the cold stares the jury was delivering in his direction. The judge coughed loudly to regain his attention “Do you stand with your plead?”  
  
 _“I wanted to produce young. Young that was strong enough to hold its own yet was smart enough to know when not to fight. I scouted both factions for suitable males, with neither side displaying any candidates. It was by chance that my programming lead me to the one who would be my future SparkMate; Starscream. He possessed what I wanted...what I needed...he was a smart and well built male, showing even traces of being a magnificent leader. I said to myself; If I was ever to produce the young I so desperately desired, it would have to be with him.”  
  
_ “Do you stand like a Decepticon, or will you remain silent and die like an Autobot?!” the Judge boomed, slamming his hands on the podium. Solarflare snarled and shot a powerful hiss at the jury and judge before making his answer “I...am a Decepticon.” He began, growling in discontent “And I admit it! I killed him! Do I regret it?! NO! I only regret that I didn’t kill him slower!” he snapped, squinting in pain as the guards further restrained him.  
 _  
“Lunacus would have forbid the unity between me and my cousin, he wanted me to mate with males of his selection. The restrictions he imposed upon me, and his uncaring thoughts of how I was useless in this state, lead to his death. The Primes and Megatron never knew of my existence, and so neither side showed signs of intentional harm against me. I had no quarrel with them, no anger towards either side. Therefore I killed no one to be declared a Decepticon, but didn’t care about others to be an Autobot. I was something the eye does not see. However my alliance was finally formed when my cousin received word of my arrest back on Cybertron, and informed Megatron of me so I would be freed and taken into service. I was in his debt.”  
  
_ “Then your sentence is to be issued; you are to be placed within Detention, there upon you shall be examined for mental instability and re-trialled.” The Judge began, only to be interrupted by Solarflare screaming “Spare me this mockery of justice!!” The Judge coughed before continuing “If your condition remains unchanged, you shall be recycled. Court is adjourned--” The judge answered, but was cut short by the untimely arrival of Starscream and Astrotrain.   
“—remove those charges!” the Seeker snapped as he pushed himself past the guards with little effort “Commander, what is the meaning of this?! The court has already passed on its ruling—”   
Again, Starscream cut the judge short “By order of Megatron himself; all charges on Solarflare are to be lifted and his past records DESTROYED. He is to be escorted immediately to Earth for assistance and anyone who dares question this order will find their own head severed! Understood?!” the Air Commander informed, pulling Solarflare free from the guards and removing his restraints. The judge nodded reluctantly, before clearing all charges.  
  
 _“I joined not to kill Autobots like I promised; I joined to fulfil my programming. To follow him...Follow Starscream; get his data and Bios Settings, make his young and teach them, then unleash them into the world on their own to do as they wished. I lied to Starscream to get close to him out of fear of him rejecting me, so I told him I would assist in overthrowing Megatron by producing an army with him.”_  
  
Starscream chuckled as the Triple-Changer received his Decepticon insignias “You are now an honorary Decepticon member, just as you were always meant to be. Help bring us to glory.”  
 _  
(End Flashback)  
  
_ “So I carry the young, not only to repay the debt...because he didn’t just save my life back on Cybertron twice; he gave me a chance to start a new one on Earth. I was free of the charges in my criminal past, free from Lunacus control and was finally accepted in the faction as one of them. And I finally had a chance to get close to my dear Screamer.” Solarflare ended the flashback briefing, with the Autobots either sat beside the table he was lying on or leaning against the wall a few feet away. Perceptor was one of them, and was still waiting for the explanation as to why he was delaying his delivery, and why Lunacus was part of the reason.  
  
Solarflare chuckled when the felt his children within him expand, obviously taking in the minerals he was just given “I want to ensure the young are safe; and they are safest when within me. And safe young means I am fulfilling my programming.” He began “...but I am not so sure of if I want them to be raised by Starscream; he indeed does have all the things I want my young to have, but fails as a guardian and shows no parenting skills. And you see Lunacus didn’t create him; he designed him. That is why the relation between us is so small...five percent...yet I can’t help but wonder...”  
Ratchet approached the Triple-Changer and began scanning his bulged Fusion Cavity “You don’t know what to expect of the...inbreeding...” he announced as he continued to scan.   
Solarflare nodded and gagged as he thought about all the young within him hatching into monsters, until the soothing touch of Ratchet on his Cavity eased his mind “Don’t worry about that, everything will be fine. Like you said the relation is infinitesimal.” The medic assured softly before continuing when he noticed the calmed nature of the patient “So to bluntly answer your questions; I am delaying this delivery to make sure Screamer loves me, and isn’t after me just to exploit my abilities...along with them being safer within me and my fear of seeing how they turn out.” Solarflare finished, turning to Perceptor “Happy now?”  
The Microscope Autobot nodded, not saying a word as he continued to document everything he was hearing and seeing “...will you deliver them at some point then?” Ratchet asked, feeling under his touch the Herms cavity begin the churn.   
Ratchet chuckled as Solarflare continued his purring “...I’ll take that as a yes.” He said, looking towards Optimus Prime for what to do next. But the Autobot Leader was thinking ahead, over what would happen after the delivery, which left a sinking feeling within him.   
  
Solarflare would never admit being a breeding unit, yet everything he has said to them just strengthens the beliefs everyone has about him being one. It is true that he’d be valuable on either side in the war but in all honesty, Optimus Prime knows if he had things his way he’d never take a side. He’d just want to sit on the fence and watch, defending only himself and his young, documenting the wars for future generations to learn about. Learn from the mistakes, never to repeat them again.  
It the thought of what was going to happen when the young were delivered that made Optimus Prime feel a fair bit uneasy; Solarflare would not wish to stay, he has other young elsewhere to tend to, but how would he react once these hatchlings had to be separated from him?  
“...you do realise that the young won’t be allowed to leave with her, don’t you?” Optimus Prime informed as the Decepticon herm closed his eyes and purred under the touch of the Autobot medic, ignoring the Leader. Ratchet nodded at his Leader as he continued to sooth the hermaphrodite “I understand Optimus, it’s just the feeling of separation she’ll suffer with that worries me.” He answered, attempting to sneak open the Decepticons cavity doors to trigger the delivery.   
Perceptor huffed and pulled himself from the wall to stand beside his colleague, watching as he attempted to open the tightly sealed doors, and ended in failure.   
  
“I’m not having them here...” Solarflare purred, watching as Ratchet struggled to open the doors. Said Autobot groaned as he tried and tried, but no progress was being made “What would you rather do; have them safely delivered here or expose them to danger outside? Please, open your doors.” The medic requested, gaining no reaction from the Decepticons doors even showing any signs of budging.   
“--they must be held in my hands when they hatch, or they’ll become Autobots. I refuse to deliver them in your company!” he teased, allowing his _other_ cavity doors to open instead “...only thing that’s coming out in your territory, is from these doors.” He chuckled, watching as Ratchet and the other Autobots stepped back from him as he exposed his V-port “Solarflare! Have some dignity and close your hatch!” Perceptor snapped shielding his eyes the instant he took notice of the Seekers hose ejecting. Arcee kept her distance also but laughed, placing her hands on her hips as she took sharp observation of Solarflares flirtatious looks “You may have circuitry issues...but you certainly have a strange sense of humour, I’ll give you that.” She chuckled, clapping her hands together as if applauding.   
  
Solarflare smirked until he felt Ratchet cover his male cavity tool with a hollowed out object, were upon he instantly blushed as the object applied pressure on him “put that away Solarflare! You’re not marking in here!” the medic ordered, being the source of the pressure as he pressed the object down onto the herm.  
The Decepticon scientist gritted his teeth together and groaned, his cheeks still flushed pink, until he finally overloaded and ejected his bypass fuel causing Ratchet and Perceptor to turn away from the Decepticon in disgust. Solarflare giggled as he witnessed his abductors reactions; for marking was so primitive it was near unheard of anymore in modern Cybertronian culture.   
Perhaps the strange beast-like behaviour of Solarflare was the main reason behind his colleagues’ curiosity, and overall desire, to keep him in their ranks; he was easy to manipulate. Perceptor even wrote in his documents about how much the Decepticons changed since the arrival of Solarflare and how keeping him in close proximity to the highest ranked males proved damaging to their operations; Soundwave, Starscream, the Triple Changers and even Megatron himself. All of them began fighting with each other and struggled to cooperate with any plans they made, causing Energon within their grasp to quickly vanish as less was being brought in from theft.   
  
The low Energon and the only female vessel within the Decepticons is what caused total riot to occur some time ago; it was the retreat of the Triple Changers from the fight that allowed some Energon to flow back into the faction, though with their own leader and the other two able to take command still fighting meant direction was poor. These were Perceptors findings; he just needed more to write a valid conclusion to his research.   
“Perceptor, dispose of this object quickly before any of the others detect its contents.” Ratchet requested, releasing Solarflare from the item and handing it to his colleague “We’re not Decepticons, Ratchet! The chemicals within this would only attract male members of...oh...” the scientist blushed after realising why the item had to be disposed of securely, and did as he was commanded with great haste.   
Solarflare chuckled as he retracted his male equipment, purring as he eyed Ratchet lovingly “touch me like that again...please...you’re so gentle...” he teased, licking his lips. Optimus Prime couldn’t help but face-palm, muttering to himself over how difficult Megatron must have found working alongside Solarflare with how he behaved.   
  
Arcee was expressing her curiosity by approaching the table and examining Solarflare from head to toe as if looking for something “Marking? What reason do you have for that if you function as a female unit?” she questioned, finally finding the closed doors to Solarflares male cavity “I did it to get help; my mates can smell that from miles away.” The Decepticon answered, adjusting himself in the restraints   
“But you could have just sent out a distress signal...” Arcee informed, sounding a little disappointed. Solarflare chuckled and stretched “When you’re as heavily pregnant as I am, sending and receiving signals is near impossible due to the interference caused by all the young.” Ratchet placed his hand on Solarflares face and sighed “And you’re technically in heat again, so you wanted to mark to attract your partners for ‘fun times’...you’re so primitive.” He muttered, receiving Solarflares muffled words as his only response.   
  
Optimus Prime chuckled as he witnessed the spectacle and couldn’t help but bring up the big question again, having not asked Solarflare for nearly a whole year now “Solarflare, you may be an odd Decepticon, but once again I extend my invitation for you to join us. You would be safe here, as would your offspring. Perhaps we could even help you control the difficulties you have.” The moment Optimus Prime asked the question, the sooner he wished he hadn’t; for when Ratchet removed his hand from the Decepticons face he was hit by pathetic excuses over why he shouldn’t join the Autobots. It was the re-arrival of Perceptor that managed to change the subject.   
“We have a slight problem...” Perceptor began, nudging Optimus Prime to look outside the doors. The Leader of the Autobots turned and headed through the doorway and stumbled across Ironhide; who reeked of Decepticon. “For Primus’ sake; get Perceptors optics seen to! He walked clean into me with that ‘sample’ of his and now I smell like—!”   
“—enough, Ironhide. Just clean yourself off immediately.”  
Perceptor shyly approached from behind and rubbed the back of his helmet “...he did, but the scent remains.” The scientist informed, scrunching his nose as the smell started to overpower him “*gag* And—it seems to get stronger the more we try to clean it off!” he added as he attempted to hold back another gag.   
  
Optimus Prime couldn’t smell anything thanks to his faceplate, but he knew all too well that Perceptor wouldn’t be joking around about something so many passers-by seemed to confirm. The sickened looks on their faces and the frantic attempts to flee the area Ironhide was stood in sealed the theory of the odour gaining strength. “Hmm...Perceptor, would masking it work?” he asked, turning to look back into the laboratory to see no change inside “the only thing that can mask this scent is *gag* something of equal strength. And there are no Decepticons in our ranks. We could *gag* make a simulated odour but *gag* the time it takes would be pointless.” Perceptor finally resorted to rushing into the labs to recover a mask of some sort to sooth the smells causing his processor to churn in a sickly motion, which seemed to give him an idea.  
  
“Ironhide, you’re not going to like this, but we need to ask Inferno to soak you down with Salt Water.” Perceptor suggested, beginning to push the smelly Autobot to the next room “Optimus, I’ll deal with this. Ratchet will have to document for me in my absence.” He added, continuing to push the protesting Ironhide into the next room.   
Optimus Prime nodded and returned to the lab to find Arcee wearing a similar mask to what Perceptor wore, and Ratchet struggling to keep working without one on.  
“Vector Sigma, you’re making things difficult for us Solarflare.” Optimus Prime announced as he approached the table. Solarflare chuckled and adjusted himself again before purring “I just want Soundwave to get here to rescue me and who knows, Megatron might come here by himself so you can kill him.” Solarflare answered seductively, nibbling on his lower lip as he watched the Autobot Leader carefully. “You don’t expect Starscream to even try rescuing you? You seem to have little hope for him and his potential.” He responded, waving Arcee to leave the room before folding his arms and watching as the Decepticon retreated his sly smile into a mellow expression of deep though and sadness.   
  
It seemed just thinking of Starscream failing made him suffer and although Optimus Prime didn’t wish to make the Triple Changer go through such pains, he knew the only way for Solarflare to learn to trust others better was to think about everything positive they’d done for him. And the only way to do that was bring up some of the negatives.   
“He saved your life, twice, and has fought Megatron even to the stage of near fatal damage for you. Lied to keep you hidden, acted as a decoy to draw fire from your location...” Optimus began, but continued “...he even sacrificed his own rank and alliance to keep you; and has taken bullets and explosions for you. If I know Starscream like I think I do now based on what I’ve seen, then he won’t abandon you. Especially if the young you carry are his.” He finished, noticing the growing expression of longing spread through Solarflare and his circuits.   
The Decepticon gritted his teeth together and hissed in pain as Ratchet finally opened his Fusion Cavity doors thanks to the distraction, and began attempting to stimulate his delivery “...I want him to come, but I know he won’t. Not after the way I’ve treated him...” Solarflare responded coldly, groaning again as the Autobot Medic continued to tickle him and managed to trigger the delivery to start “Optimus, her barrier has broken and she’s about to go into labour.” He informed, keeping the Cavity Doors open “Wonderful work Ratchet! Keep me informed on her status.” The Prime nodded before looking down at the Triple Changer “Prime...I need a second pair of hands here or things could go horribly wrong very quickly!” the medic added sounding more frantic, using his foot to pull a metal tub towards the table and an Energon Cube.   
  
Optimus Prime looked back to his medical officer and was about to ask who he had in mind, when said Autobot cut him short “Anyone will do! I need the help now Prime!” Ratchet exhaled, kicking up two weights which he used to hold open the cavity doors with. The Autobot leader nodded before rushing outside and hauling in the first member to be in arms reach...and you guessed it; Jazz was the volunteer.  
“W-what in Primus?!” Jazz whined, a look of horror on his face as he was quickly pushed towards the operating table, having a bucket placed in his hands by Ratchet “Stay there and be ready for what comes out! Solarflare, drink this!” the medic ordered, raising the table to a ninety degree angle and placing the Energon Cube towards the Triple Changers lips. Jazz shuddered as the Decepticon slowly drank the substance, only for traces of it to slip down his cheeks and drip onto his slightly swelled Plug “Man...This a force-feeding session here?!” the Autobot whined, stepping back from the Decepticon herm as he screamed in pain “Jazz, move in closer and place the bucket near the Plug. Catch anything that comes out and by no means take your eyes off what you’re meant to be doing.” Ratchet began, cleaning off the spilt Energon from the Herm before continuing to feed him “If that mound falls onto the floor from this height all the young that collide directly onto the ground will break and die.” He added, tossing the empty cube aside and leaning over the Decepticons abdomen to investigate it.   
  
“W-wait...this is a DELIVERY?!” Jazz gawked as the Hermaphrodite shook his head violently when the Autobot medic took sharp notice of his still growing delays in delivering “Solarflare; open your cavity all the way.” Ratchet requested, looking up at him only to see the Herm once again shake his head and start screaming.   
Ratchet growled before clicking his fingers at Jazz to pay attention and to stop being distracted, then facing Optimus Prime looking rather afraid “Optimus; please bring Perceptor back in here, I need him to entice Solarflare into opening her cavity all the way or she could kill herself with this much pressure!”   
  
-  
  
Meanwhile, back at the Sanctuary, Starscream returned with a stack of Energon Cubes; a look of triumph on his face as he believed strongly that his mate would forgive him with such a large offering. He would prove to him how useful he really is, how he was perfectly capable of getting the job done. But this alone would not be enough to restore Solarflares confidence in him, that he was certain.   
He knew that in order to win back the Decepticons faith in him that he’d have to do something for the young they already have. But he hated sitting around to watch over them and especially disliked having to feed them in front of the other males, which left him in deep though; what could he do? Watching, feeding...neither worked out for him. What was he good at that he could use for the Sparklings benefit?  
  
The Seeker continued to ponder as he leapt down the elevator shaft with his haul of Energon, landing with an almighty thud which set off the lonely Sparklings screaming in terror from the room on the left of his entry.   
Starscream chuckled before calling out for Solarflare, only to receive no response from anyone but the young. The Seeker flat-browed in uncertainty as he approached the nursery and opened the door; looking around the room for any signs of his mate, but found nothing within other than the youngsters who were still screaming in terror.   
  
Starscream set down the Energon and approached the twins first, who were sat in the middle of the room clinging to each other in tears “Alpha, Beta; what happened?” he asked, sounding worried. The Sparklings remained crying, but ended their screaming “Mother...she...left us to gather...” Alpha began, leaving Beta to continue “...she’s been gone a long time...we’re scared...”  
Starscream scouted his eyes around the room, snarling as he began to suspect this was either the Autobots doing or Megatrons; he was seeking the only one he figured would know exactly what happened to Solarflare, whether he was abducted or left on his own: _Gama_.   
  
“Uncle Starscreamer! Where’s mother?!” Alpha cried, sounding distressed causing his twin to burst into tears again. Enigma was hiding behind a box and was showing signs of fear also, but due to his mysterious silence there was no sounds of crying, yet the atmosphere of the room told the Seeker all of the youngsters were crying in fear...except one.  
“Oh...you came back to abuse mother some more with you lack of parenting skills.” Gama hissed from his usual hiding spot behind the door; the youth wasn’t showing any signs at all of fear or sadness which made Starscream feel sick in his processors.   
“Mother left because of you; she hates you and wants your Hatchlings to die...and I agree with her.” The Sparkling was a monster, Megatron Spawn, who would grow up into a Decepticon very similar to him. He was already showing signs of the future personality he’d have; cold and uncaring of others feelings, brutal and quick to hold a grudge.   
The ex-Decepticon was not going to allow the youth to grow up like that...if at all.   
  
He roared as he grasped Gama around the throat and hauled him from the ground, unable to stand the thought of Megatrons lineage dominating his own. With Gama in the way Starscreams offspring would be listed as ‘lower bred’ in comparison, denying them Decepticon Leadership should he perish in the future. They would become Gama’s subordinates, taking his orders rather than giving them.   
If Starscreams Hatchlings stood any chance in taking Decepticon Leadership when he passed, he’d have to destroy or seriously dominate Gama. Beating him into submission now was his idea of making him obedient in the future, but this was Megatrons son he was dealing with...even in the choking grasp of the Seekers hands Gama remained calm and vigilant, openly mocking him like his own father.  
“Go ahead, Loser...rip my vocal processors out.” He mocked, knowing all too well that the Seeker would never do such a thing...not whilst Solarflare was still so protective of him. The gunslinger still had to watch his words, as mutilation would never be done...but a beating or being killed was still an open option to the ex-Decepticon.   
“If I did that to you I wouldn’t get any information; now where did Solarflare go?!” Starscream hissed, tightening his grip causing the youth to finally show signs of pain and discomfort “She---she just—--left!!” Gama coughed “She left---to get away---!” he added, squirming under his step-fathers grasp and noticing how his half-brothers just stood and watched “Help me, you idiots!!” Gama yelled as he attempted to kick Starscreams arms in hope he’d drop him.   
  
Alpha and Beta shrugged and clung to Starscreams legs, saying nothing as Enigma maintained his distance and continued watching. The Seeker continued his interrogation, slamming the Sparkling against the wall with force causing his Radiation Gun to release from his arm and crash onto Alpha “Don’t test my patience!” Starscream snarled “Did she say where she was going?! What did she leave to obtain?! Speak, Megatron Spawn!!”  
The words clumsily slipped from his mouth; _Megatron Spawn._ Finally Gama knew who wasn’t his father, and had the name of who was. “...Who’s...M-Megatron?” Gama choked, unable to see the blank expression on his captors face. He’d let the name out even though Solarflare wished for it to never be said in front of him, so now he knew and was certain to start demanding a confrontation with his manufacturer.  
A meeting that could never, and should never, happen.   
  
“...that is not your concern, Gama. Finding your mother is more important.” The Seeker announced in a stoic tone, obviously angry with himself for making such a huge mistake. Gama continued to squirm and finally turned into his gun mode (minus the pistol end) enabling him to escape Starscreams grasp on his throat.   
Once he was free, recovered his weapon, and gained some distance between himself and his step-father; Gama returned to robot mode and answered whilst rubbing his neck and throat “She said she was departing to regain her health, most likely by gathering minerals to feed...your spawn...with.” he answered in a bitter tone “I followed her to the street and saw what direction she took, but I went no further. She flew in a south-eastern direction, at a speed I believe to be eighty seven miles per hour.” He finished, loading his weapon and keeping a close eye on Starscreams next movements as if expecting him to attack again. But no attack came, not even a false charge to frighten him with.   
  
“If he maintained that speed and direction, and has been gone for over an hour, he must have landed in Wyoming.” Starscream muttered, ignoring Alpha and Beta who were asking the Seeker childish questions about what he and Gama were talking about “Mother said Wyoming was too dangerous for Decepticons, because of the Autobots...she’d never land there, you idiot.” The youth hissed, taking a step backwards as Starscream faked a charge at him “Think outside your inferior robonetic ***** motherboard; if Wyoming is dangerous to Decepticons that means more minerals are available to harvest, due to the lack of other Decepticons taking them. If Solarflare was anywhere in Central America to gather without an escort, it would be there.” Starscream explained, scoping Gama as he continued to sneak further to the back of the room to hide from him “I’m not inferior; you and your settings are.” Gama hissed, feeling more secure now he was further away. **(*Robonetics is the Robotic version of Genetics and is also known as Bios Settings. Also RNA is used instead of DNA.)  
** Starscream prepared to charge again with the intentions of beating Gama for his disrespect, until Thundercracker crashed down the elevator shaft in a panic with Soundwave following shortly after. As the ex-Decepticon became distracted, Gama took the chance to crack open a hidden ventilation shaft and escape without detection.  
  
“Screamer, we have trouble!” Thundercracker yelled sounding very frantic “...do you know what I know?” Starscream growled, cracking his knuckles and nodding to Soundwave who responded with a nod of his own “Flare’s missing. But I detected feint vapour trails of his flight which seemed to halt on the border of Wyoming.” Soundwave informed, pointing to Thundercracker after speaking “Thundercracker scouted the whole area, but didn’t find any signs of Flare or any battles. If he was abducted, then it was done so without any resistance or combat.”  
Starscream rolled his eyes and sighed “the condition he’s in means combat would kill or damage my offspring, so of course he didn’t fight... _fool_...” the Seeker mocked, muttering in the same variation of Cybertronian Solarflare used once before, only to be poked in the torso hard by his Team-Mate “I’m not an idiot, Screamer. Flare taught me his language too you know... _fool_...” Soundwave mocked back.   
The duo smirked and resumed mocking “Prove to me how much of it you know.” Starscream chuckled, nudging Soundwave with his arm. The blue Decepticon retuned the gesture followed by some loud ranting in the alien tongue, quickly lead by Soundwave whispering in it, grasping onto the Seekers arm tightly until Thundercracker scooted between them to remind them that Solarflare was still missing.   
“Thundercrackers’ correct, we should focus on finding Flare.” Soundwave nodded to his Team-Mate, releasing his hold on him “In that case, he can stay here and look after the Sparklings. Thundercracker feel free to help yourself to some Energon. Soundwave, take a break and join him in making use of the extra cubes we have.” Starscream ordered, receiving a sly grin from his fellow Seeker “Well Screamer, when did you suddenly become so generous?” Thundercracker laughed, until receiving an answer of undesired proportions from the ex-Decepticon “You can feed the Sparklings too while you’re here, since you’ll be bursting with fresh Energon.” Thundercrackers optimism soon faded into sheer embarrassment as Soundwave chuckled lightly from the Seeker receiving such a degrading job “As for me; I’ll scout ahead and will radio you if I find anything, Wave.” Starscream informed, drinking down one of the cubes in one quick guzzle to replenish his circuitry.   
  
Soundwave nodded as Starscream took his leave, before scouting around the room for his offspring and began handing them to Thundercracker to be fed, until noticing something was amiss. Gama was nowhere to be seen.  
  
-  
  
Starscreams duty now would prove his worth if he was successful; finding his mate, rescuing him and delivering him safely home would certainly be a huge perk. Thanks to Soundwaves coordinates to the end of the vapour trail Starscream quickly scouted for clues as to where the pregnant Decepticon was and more important, who took him and why.  
The Seeker approached a deserted and totally drained Gas Station, inspecting the tanks for even a slither of his mates Energon signal (a substance much like saliva). What he did find was that every pump was sucked dry of their content and the sacks of coal, tanks of oils and gas canisters had been ravaged or totally emptied.   
An inspection of each material container confirmed to the Seeker that his SparkMate had been here, as not only did each mineral fulfil the needs his body sought but a trace of his Energon was also found on the nozzle of one of the pumps. All Starscream had to do now was calculate his partners next move after draining the gas station of what he needed, and luck would have it the Seeker caught sight of tire marks along with a deep foot imprint from Solarflare in the road; showing that he chased down an automobile that was travelling at quite some speed.  
Pregnant or not, Solarflare would still chase after something if it had what he wanted. The Seeker had no idea what type of automobile he’d chased or if he caught it, as the tire marks faded after a few blocks along with the Decepticons signs of pursuit.  
  
“Most curious...” Starscream muttered, kneeling down to the tire marks and inspecting the imprints. The Seeker narrowed his eyes as he began matching the image he was seeing with those in his records, seeing if they had been made by an Autobot or a Decepticon. There were no signs of wreckage when the tire marks vanished, which could only mean the automobile came to a halt suddenly resulting in Solarflares foot imprints also vanishing.  
 If his mate caught the vehicle there would have been remnants of its destruction, but there was nothing at all. Only an Autobot or a Decepticon could have left these tire marks, and could abduct Solarflare without leaving any trace of conflict.   
A trap, an ambush or just sheer carelessness? It was not Megatrons style to plot in recapturing his precious breeder without dealing any damage at all to his captive, so if the Decepticons did take him then Megatron was not there to oversee the capture.  
Then, finally, a tire print match was found in his database; an Autobot truck, six wheels without a trailer. Signs on the road however showed that the truck had been towing a trailer, which may have been used to trick Solarflare into being captured within it.  
  
Starscream didn’t hesitate a moment longer “Starscream to Soundwave; come in. I’ve identified our abductors.” He radioed, regaining his upright posture. _“Soundwave reads; report your status.”  
_ “The captors where Autobots, and in particular Solarflare was baited into a trap by Optimus Prime. No other Autobot Truck would leave marks on the road this big.” _  
  
“Affirmative. I shall initiate a scan of the area when I arrive.”  
_  
“Thundercracker stays behind and Soundwave; get Astrotrain back to this blasted planet, I have a feeling we’ll need to have him carry Flare back to base.”  
 _  
“Understood; I am departing as we speak.”  
_ Starscream remains silent for a moment and begins working on strategy; where would the Autobots take him, and why would they for that matter? It wasn’t like them to abduct a pregnant Decepticon just to kill the young, and if they wanted to kill them anyway they could have done it right where they captured him.   
“Soundwave, how long until you get here?”  
 _  
“...Do you require my assistance so desperately? Or do you miss me already?”  
_  
Starscream groaned as he heard his Team-Mate chuckle, obviously not in the mood to register his jokes at this time. It was quite a shock to him when Soundwave started showing signs of humour, sadness and longing; it was actual emotions! REAL. From _Soundwave_!He was like a walking computer, interested in nothing but rank and data, two years back. Even through the first year Solarflare became ‘ripe’ Soundwave was still stoic, but from the stories he heard from Thundercracker and Skywarp that stoic shell started to crack. Perhaps before Soundwave had no need for emotions, as all he sought in his existence was his position in rank and his loyalty to Megatron to keep it.   
So when Solarflare started displaying and became ready to breed his emotions surfaced, obviously due to his dormant and neglected male programming actually turning on for the first time in perhaps his whole life. _  
_  
“Soundwave, be serious. Open up a connection to Astrotrain; quickly!” Starscream snapped, turning into his jet mode and taking to the skies to begin scouting the area as he waited for his team-Mate to arrive. Soundwave muttered to himself with communications still open, but followed orders and patched in Astrotrain.  
 _  
“Astrotrain; Starscream requires your immediate arrival to Earth. Solarflare has been captured by the Autobots.”  
_ The Triple-Changer replied back, but his signal was heavily distorted possibly due to him being low on power or someone trying to jam their frequency. Thankfully for Starscream that Soundwave sent Astrotrain coordinates to the meeting location before communication was lost. _  
  
“Communications between us and Astrotrain have been jammed. What course of action should we take?”  
_  
“Bah. Blasted Autobots! No matter...I doubt they would be stupid enough to take Flare back to their base so they must have hidden him around here somewhere.”  
 _  
“I will be at your location in a few moments, do you wish for me to send out a homing signal for Astrotrain—”  
_  
“No, you idiot. Doing that would expose us to Megatron and Optimus Prime. I’m going to scout around the skies for anymore tracks, so unless Astrotrain is blind he should see me. Now, I need you to—” Starscream stopped speaking once he heard his communication also become jammed, and cursed once his attempts to re-establish communications failed horribly. The Seeker groaned as he also failed to find anymore tire tracks, and landed on the highest building he could find to gather his thoughts and await Soundwave or Astrotrains arrival.   
  
-  
  
The wait for Soundwave was short, and once they regrouped they could finally head out and utilise the ‘Bonds’ benefits of synchronised attacks. But they had to wait for Astrotrain, who would be flying all the way from Cybertron to assist. For all they knew they could be waiting minutes to hours for him, and time right now was short.  
“My scanners detected the jamming frequency was of Autobot origin, just east of our current location.” Soundwave informed, scoping the horizon from their vantage point on the building. Starscream groaned as the blue Decepticon continued to ramble, and chose to ignore him as the words continued to roll out. He was once such a quiet Decepticon...but now he talks and nobody wants to listen to him.   
Well, with the exception of his SparkMate.    
  
“The Autobot who caused the jam was Blaster. I recommend seeking him out and interrogating him for the location of Flare.” Soundwave continued to speak, as Starscream continued to ignore. The ignorance of the Seeker was starting to test the cassette players patience, and in a fit of fury he decided to search on his own even as that loudmouth Starscream barked orders at him. He could sit around and wait for Astrotrain; Soundwave wasn’t going to dilly-dally whilst his partner could be in peril!  
  
Soundwave followed his own orders and sought out Blasters jamming signal to beat some information out of him, heading eastward to where the signal was last detected only to find no trace of the Autobot. However he saw signs of conflict within the crumbling foundations of a building not too far from the Autobots last known location, it seems a Decepticon might have been caught up in the signal jamming too and didn’t like it.   
Evidence of the conflict was spread in puddles of Energon and chunks of scrap metal. Neither combatant was still around, and Soundwave only regrets that he wasn’t around to witness the fight, but who the Energon belonged to he wasn’t certain. He couldn’t smell or taste the life-blood with his faceplate up, and he didn’t like pulling it down in front of others. No matter their alliance or species. Only Solarflare, his young and his Team-Mate Starscream have seen him without it and he planned on keeping it that way. However he was curious to learn just who it was that got to scaring off Blaster before he could do it himself; he retracted his faceplate and scooped up a trace of the Energon, before tasting it to determine if it was a Decepticons.   
  
After confirming the alliance as the one he originally predicted; Soundwave began scanning the Energon to achieve a reading over who it exactly came from. A moment for his scanner to filter through the Decepticon archives stated the injured Transformer to be the paranoid Stunticon; Breakdown.  
Why the little creep was on his own in such dangerous territory was a mystery, but all Soundwave knew from the scene was that the battle he had against Blaster was fierce and would have likely left Breakdown seriously injured.   
The Energon was still fresh too, so with injuries as bad as he theorised Soundwave believed he hadn’t gotten very far. He would likely be within range of a scan, with any luck. But the jumpy Stunticon was not the target; Solarflare was.   
  
Breakdown was one of few Decepticons who would happily tattle on Soundwave so long as there was something in it for him, and the cassette player was also speculating that he’d tattle on Solarflare too without caring what would happen to the herm.  
Soundwave didn’t know why he kept his faceplate retracted, but he felt he had to for some reason as he followed the wreckage and slithers of Energon back to the outside world; Breakdown was there alright, and he was in bad shape. The communication Decepticon contracted his faceplate as he approached the downed Stunticon, who was trying to radio for help with no success thanks to Blasters annoying jamming frequency “Breakdown to Headquarters; I’m in serious need of repairs...” Soundwave remained hidden from Breakdowns sight, and continued to eavesdrop in hope that the Stunticon may mention what happened to Blaster.   
“—someone---anyone?! Come on---I need help!” the Stunticon continued his frantic cries through the jammed communications for assistance, and it seemed he wasn’t going to say anything about the location of the damn Autobot who caused the signal jamming. However, Breakdown would have a use in overthrowing Megatron...

“Cease your transmission attempts; all radio frequencies have been blocked.” Soundwave informed, drawing his weapon and approaching the downed Decepticon with caution. Breakdown panicked once he saw the cassette player slowly making his way towards him, and scouting the floor for his weapon with little success.   
The Stunticon then grasped the nearest object to him and threw it without looking where it was going as he had shut his eyes, and that was when he felt his power run dry; he couldn’t move his legs or arms, he couldn’t even re-open his eyes. He was at Soundwaves mercy.  The Stunticon twitched as he continued to attempt movement, even as he felt himself be picked up by Soundwave “Energy levels at 0%...Spark running on emergency power...” Breakdown gasped “...Soundwave...if you’re...still one of us...take me to Megatron...”  
  
The Communication Decepticon remained silent as he carried the wounded Breakdown from the scene, stopping in the street to scan for Starscream or Astrotrain. Breakdown couldn’t see with his eyes locked shut, but he could hear an aircraft approaching; the smell of the fumes along with the rumble of its engines, and then that voice...the ‘out-of-this-world’ voice...  
“Astrotrain; Breakdown is in need of serious repairs--”   
  
“—-leave that Megatron-pawn behind! Astrotrain took his time getting back here, now we find Flare! And Soundwave, stop trying to sound uncharismatic; I know the real you isn’t anything like that.” Starscream interrupted with a hiss, pushing himself from Astrotrains doors allowing him to transform. “Shut up Starscream, Breakdown could be of use to us.”   
“—-and I say he could easily betray us! Leave him to perish in the gutter; or would you rather be responsible for our mates death!?”  
Soundwaves temper then crashed; he handed the wounded Breakdown to Astrotrain before punching Starscream clean in the face, pinning him to the floor with his foot preventing him from getting back up “Soundwave...Solar’s not going to like this fighting...” Astrotrain muttered, until the blue Decepticon pointed to him “Transform; load up Breakdown and take him to the Sanctuary for repairs, then return here as soon as you offload him to Thundercracker.”  Soundwave ordered, digging his foot into Starscream as Astrotrain delayed.   
The Triple-Changer finally accepted the order and transformed, hauling Breakdown away for repairs, leaving Soundwave and Starscream together to settle things alone. _  
_  
The cassette player dragged his captive Team-Mate into the ruins of the building he found Breakdown not too far away from; retracting his faceplate once he was certain they were both away from any peering eyes. “Screamer, how much do you want Flare?” Soundwave asked with his back turned on the Seeker. Starscream groaned and rolled his eyes as he watched the blue Decepticon lean against a wall, folding his arms as he locked eyes with his partner in a staring-contest.   
They remained silent as they exchanged looks, not paying attention to any other part of their senses. One of them had to break eventually, as the pressure of not knowing where their mate was or what condition he was in was circuit-wrecking.   
The pains of losing his offspring on Starscreams end, and the thought of causing Solarflares death by the delay in saving Breakdown was resting on Soundwaves end. Starscream finally broke the silence with a heavy sigh, followed by his answer “...I want him so badly; I’d kill you and your lineage to protect him if I had to.” He began, but continued “One thing that is on my mind, Wave, is why do you want Solarflare? I know you didn’t care if he conceived for you or not, so what else would you want him for?”  
Soundwave turned to his Team-Mate and lowered his head, a blush steadily forming on his cheeks “...he made me...feel.” he began, looking up to the Seeker without even attempting to hide the pink glow across his face “...and he gave me another reason to live.” Soundwave finished speaking, and approached Starscream to place his hands on the Seekers arms, causing him to also emit a blush.   
  
“It doesn’t matter why we love him, or how much we do; so long as we do love him and treat him right he’ll be happy. And his happiness is our happiness, remember? We share our emotions, our pains...if he is in harm, we would have felt it.” Soundwave explained.  
Starscream looked into his allies eyes; the almost single red optics glow was near hypnotic, and he could faintly see the red colour shift to golden yellow the longer he stared into them. The Seeker raised his brow as he witnessed the optics get ever closer, almost feeling as if they were cutting through his frame and scanning him inside. Then, he felt his Team-Mates lips press against his own. “Astrotrain will be at least twenty minutes. We can continue searching or sit tight until he comes back.” Soundwave said softly, breathing against Starscreams neck “...or we can find something else to do until he returns.” He whispered seductively, forcing his arms around the Seekers waist and pulling him closer to his frame.   
The Seeker groaned as he felt Soundwave kiss him again, still entranced by the cassette players eyes. Whilst both were concerned for the safety of Solarflare, Soundwave had a point. If their mate was in any danger they would have known about it inside, even a twitch in their circuits of urgency would have sufficed. But neither experienced anything like that, although Starscream did feel that Solarflare would be delivering soon.  
  
To take their minds off the uneasy stresses, Soundwave continued to pierce his captive mentally with his hypnotic stare and embrace, tenderly kissing the Seekers shoulder and neck. The cassette player purred as his hands steadily found their targets, and once he was certain Starscream was fully under his hypnotic spell he decided to get to work; rotating the Seeker so his back was against his torso, lifting the jets left leg to haul him clean from the ground.   
The ex-Decepticon exhaled as he felt Soundwave open his Fusion Cavity doors against his back and continued to haul him up until Starscreams abdomen was in-line with his torso. That extra power-boost had its other uses other than defending his young with it seemed.  
The Seeker gasped as he felt Soundwaves tools begin to eject; his rather different and unique tools. He had the usual hose and Sinus Wires like all males, but the way they were packaged and worked was special in comparison to others. It was these special differences that allowed Soundwave to inject Solarflare even when Starscream was busy with him already, enabling him to mate from any position without discomforting himself.   
As odd as the design may sound, his equipment was not tucked inside a V-port or Hose. They were tucked in four techno-organic like tentacles, and seemed more flexible than any Hose. If Starscream wasn’t so nervous to ask, he’d have requested to study the different tools for his scientific curiosity.   
  
One thing he could confirm was that the tentacles were soft and gentle, usually caressing and swaying around the captive. In this case, however, they aggressively slithered between the Seekers legs, and ravaged his rear thrusters violently to force the injection of Soundwaves Sinus Wires. _  
“Agh---wave!!”_ Starscream moaned, breaking free from his trance to cling tightly onto the arm Soundwave had wrapped around his waist. The cassette player chuckled as Starscream arched backwards, submitting to him, allowing Soundwave to lower them both to sit on the floor. Soundwave wasn’t going to just let Starscream sit back and take everything he offloaded; he wanted to make him do some offloading too, it was only fair. So whilst the Seeker laid his back against the Decepticons torso, between his legs, Soundwave used one of his hands to open Starscreams Cavity doors and began enticing him to also eject his tools.   
Starscream gasped as he felt his wires trail from the exposed V-port, before moaning as Soundwave grasped them tightly and began fraging him.  
“Hmmm...Come to Soundwave...” the Decepticon purred, licking the exposed Uplink Cable stub on Starscreams head, forcing the Seeker to scream from surprise.  
Soundwaves tentacle-like tools continued their injection process in Starscreams rear thrusters, with one of the four retreating from the ‘back door’ only to slowly slip around the Seeker towards his ‘front door’.   
  
Starscream forced his moaning to stop once he felt the tentacle caress his chest, closing his mouth as he realised what Soundwave was attempting to do; have him both ways. _“Sure...just rub it in that you can do both at once, jerk...”_ Starscream thought bitterly, maintaining his forced silence. Soundwave purred as he noticed the Seekers attempts to resist, and drifted his free hand to Starscreams chest, finding one of his Energon breast plates before gently caressing it. The ex-Decepticon couldn’t hold his silence any longer as he was fragged, molested and caressed by the cassette player. So he did what his name suggested; he screamed. _  
Very loudly.  
_  
The instant Starscreams mouth opened the tentacle threw itself within, ejecting the Sinus Wires, sliding down his throat slowly to allow sound to still escape; the Seeker moaned sharply as he felt Soundwave tremble behind him, obviously highly aroused, and begin moaning from the pleasure. However unlike his captive, Soundwave had difficulty getting the job done; he had unique tools and could use them to enter three ‘entrances’ at once if he wanted to, but even then he found it hard to offload without there being a lot of stimulating sounds.   
Starscream didn’t want him to offload at all, especially with one of the tentacles down his throat, but with all four caressing him he knew that Soundwave wouldn’t stop until either Astrotrain came back or he overloaded.  
Starscream was bound to be the first to release, with his simple and short equipment he was easy to satisfy. And shortly after the fourth tentacle tickled his tongue with gentle thrusting he released, tightly shutting his eyes and moaning as his content ejected. Soundwave exhaled as his tentacles continued to slither within his captive, assisting Starscream in pushing out the last of his meld before removing his hand allowing the Seeker to retract his equipment.  
  
Soundwave exhaled as he manipulated his mating tools into seeking further stimulation, removing one of the three that was invading the rear thrusters for it to begin hunting for another entrance to Starscreams body.   
Said Seeker slipped a moan from his invaded mouth, casually keeping laid back and submitting to every advance as it eased the weeks stresses away; melting the tensions and cold feelings of today with every push made within him, every Sinus Wire tickling his mouth and thrusters piping left the Seeker shivering and moaning for more. However at the same time, his pride was pounding him, and he wished he wasn’t enjoying the dominance display his Team-Mate was engaging in.   
Soundwave wasn’t doing this for love or to degrade his opposition with humility; he did it to prove a point, that he was top Decepticon. And whenever Solarflare marked, especially when he was ripe, the smell was so powerful it sent both males into a mating frenzy.   
If the duo hadn’t been arguing a few moments ago, then perhaps they would have noticed the smell of said Decepticons bypass fuel and would have investigated right away. But the longer they were exposed to the scent of the chemicals, the less control they had in what they did. Other Decepticons in the area would have reacted the same way as either SparkMates as the chemicals were emitted by a female (or this case, herm) of their faction. Autobots were repelled by the smell, with very few individuals in said faction displaying similar side-effects to a Decepticon.  
  
The lust-fuelled Soundwaves free tentacle finally found a new entrance; Starscreams still exposed V-Port. The cap of the tool teased Starscream, who was looking down at it waiting for it to initiate its next move, watching it swaying side to side and stroke the V-Port slowly. Soundwave released the tentacle invading Starscreams mouth, keeping the tip still inside, but allowing the Seeker to speak if he wished to do so. But all he did was moan with the continued attack within his thrusters, and watch the teasing tentacle drift around his tools.   
_“Scream for me, Screamer.”_ Soundwave whispered, removing his tentacle from the Seekers mouth entirely and allowed it to freely caress across his captives cheeks _“Call my name right; scream in agony, in pleasure, in desire.”  
_ Starscream hissed as the tentacles within his thrusters locked onto the inner frames with their barbs, and began thrusting within him again. As he squinted from the pains below, the Seeker shifted his arms to grant him the ability in grasping the one hovering beside his face _“Just--do it already.”_ He hissed through his teeth, looking down at the teasing tentacle around his abdomen.   
Soundwave chuckled before forcing the tentacle onto the cap of the Seekers V-port, ejecting his Sinus Wires inside the funnel and allowing them to raid in his body, which caused the captive to exhale from the entry and scream as the tools continued to assault his innards. The captor moaned as his attack resumed, highly satisfied with the results so far in his advances.   
  
With every thrust the Seeker moaned or screamed, and with every sound he heard emit from him just increased his desire to hear more. More sound meant more stimulation, and the higher he was stimulated the more content he had building up to distribute. Mating with the tentacles tucked away was more practical in ensuring conception, but what was the fun without them?  
Starscream panted as his captor increased his speed, desperately trying to invade with maximum efficiency, not noticing the Decepticon edge his free tentacle loose from the Seekers grip and drift it close to his mouth again.   
  
Soundwaves face flushed pink as the thrusting finally caused him to succumb to arousal, and joined the panting process with his captive.   
_Inhale. Exhale. Scream. Hiss.  
 _ Whether or not Starscream was in agony or was in a similar state, he was making a great deal of noise; so much in fact that Soundwave decided to retreat the tentacle from his mouth and deploy it to attacking his thrusters with the other two.   
_Pant. Groan. Hiss. Gasp.  
_ The sounds continued, as did the seemingly never ending attack. Soundwave could feel it though, the relief; building up within his mind and storage tanks, signifying that the attack would soon be over on his catch, and that he’d have to release him. But what the communication Decepticon didn’t understand is what came over him to trigger this random want to dominate; he had tied his energy and drive to taking care of Solarflare and his young, meaning the desire to mate or dominate his competition were obsolete.   
Why the sudden urge to mount and have his way with Starscream?   
Soundwaves logic circuits shut down before he could list any logical answer as to why he felt such urges and desires, keeping him in the dark for reason as his fusion drive activated; he was going to have his way with the Seeker whether he liked it or not. His body demanded it.  
  
Whilst his captor became locked in drive, Starscream moaned and screamed from the advancement, finding his V-Port released and his frame slammed face-first onto the floor. The tentacles retreated from their invasion, with the exception of one that remained within his thrusters; the three loose tools wrapped around the Seekers legs and waist, with the caps sealing shut and acting as restraints as they held him and his legs apart, granting Soundwave easy access to push his cavity closer to the back door of his catch.   
Starscream felt his Team-Mates hands grip his hips, and then began the real dominance process; Soundwave held tightly onto the Seeker ensuring he couldn’t escape, before thrusting hard against him jolting his Sinus Wires into life. His logic was blocked, all thoughts addled; he was fuelled with lust and desire.  
Starscream felt a drop of liquid land on his back as Soundwave fully mounted him, keeping him restrained within his tentacles.   
_Drip. Drop.  
_ The Seeker cringed as he continued to feel the droplets fall from his dominator, not sure of if it was oil being sweated (or leaked) or Energon being salivated. All he did know was that he finally understood how Solarflare felt when he became stuck in Fusion Drive and topped him; it wasn’t pleasant, if anything it was horrifying.   
  
Questions rang through the ex-Decepticons mind, questions he believed even Solarflare asked himself when mounted by any of his partners... _will he stop? What will he do when he’s finished? Will he let me go or hold me captive for further abuse?  
_ Thinking of other things besides the invasion of his thrusters and the frantic attempts to dominate him, Starscream ceased his screaming and resorted to groans hissing through his gritted teeth and grunting in discomfort. He knew what it was like being stuck in Fusion Drive; nothing said is heard, and anything heard is never registered. All energy and concentration is focused on planting and nothing else.   
So would Soundwave snap out of it when he finally released? The Seeker hoped so, especially as he felt the inner piping of his thrusters being scratched repeatedly by the barbed Sinus Wires within; at this rate he’d be in pain just sitting down until it healed. Normally to a female the barbs would be ticklish, but he was male, and the tools were entering through a place they really shouldn’t be hence the pain he felt inside.   
Starscream shut his eyes tightly as he felt his captor attack harder, trying with all his might to show no signs of pain or pleasure. However, Soundwave was already satisfied enough to release, but he continued the thrusting to force all of his built up content out in one go instead of two small bursts.  
 _  
“*gasp* AGH!”_ the Seeker screamed, finally feeling the tentacle within him swell from the steadily releasing nano-bots. And then, just as Soundwave sped up his advancement, the communication Decepticon arched upright and screamed for Primus and released; his face lit up with a pink glow, Energon dripping from his chin, panting as he forced his tentacle to push out every drop of his produce within Starscream _“*pant* Finally...*pant*”_ Soundwave exhaled in relief, ceasing his thrusting but keeping his tentacles strapped around the Seekers waist and legs.   
Said captive panted as he felt the ice-cold liquid flow into his thrusters piping, also relieved that passionate but painful moment was finally over “...Wave...are you done?” Starscream growled, his knees trembling from having to endure so much force.   
The Decepticon on his back remained silent and continued to perspire and pant, obviously exhausted “Wave! Get off my back and get that THING out of me!” the Seeker snapped, struggling in his captors still tightly held grasp.  
“I...I’m done...but...” Soundwave exhaled, squeezing Starscream tighter with his tentacles “...something...is wrong with me...” he added, licking the drooled Energon from his lips. Starscream groaned as he continued to feel uncomfortable with the tool inside of his thrusters “Of course something is wrong! Can’t you _smell it_?!” he snapped, pushing upwards in hope of encouraging Soundwave to remove himself from his back. Soundwave however remained where he was, and sniffed the atmosphere for what his Team-Mate was talking about.   
He then picked it up; Solarflares mark.   
  
“Flare...marked here?” Soundwave questioned, ignoring the still struggling Starscream beneath him “NO. The scent is too weak! He marked several hundred clicks upwind, we only just caught whiff of it. Now get off me!”  
Soundwave retracted his tools quickly and removed himself from the ex-Decepticons back, gaining some distance between him and the unhappy Seeker “Agh...I’m going to feel this in the morning...” Starscream groaned, rubbing his rear end “...the wind is drifting from an Eastern position according to my scanners. I have placed a rough location on my navigation system of where I believe the mark was made.” Soundwave explained, attempting to change the subject.   
Starscream groaned again before clicking his back into position, having been arched forwards for rough mating for nearly twenty minutes, choosing to say nothing at all as a response to Soundwave. Reasons? For a start he was just dominated by him, and had no right to question what he was doing to find Solarflare due to the hierarchy in their group; Soundwave was the alpha, the ability to remain in dominance even with his own power boost against him proved that Starscream would have to remain submissive unless Solarflare said otherwise to Soundwave.   
Flare came first, then Soundwave and then Starscream.   
  
The rank determined who got the Energon first if they needed it; who’s orders where followed before anyone else’s and most important of all to the boys; who got to mate with Flare for more Hatchlings first. The only way Starscream could raise his rank was to dominate Soundwave, but fighting was not permitted.   
They had to earn their place through logic and skill; and Soundwave knew more than he did, he was stronger than he was too. So for him to have any luck in becoming the alpha, Starscream had to take down Megatron by himself, to prove his strength and cunning. But questioning Soundwave every now and then to see his reaction was amusing, he would miss such a spectacle when he advanced above him in the ranks.  
“Astrotrain will be here soon; so I suggest pretending nothing happened in here...understood?” Soundwave instructed, wiping the remnants of his salivation caused by that intimate moment from his face. “How will you explain my discomfort when walking and sitting down then, you jerk!?” the Seeker rasped “...easy. You got shot in the thrusters by me after I had a fit of fury. Astrotrain saw how angry I was, he’ll believe we spent the time alone arguing.” Starscream narrowed his eyes and hissed at his superior’s explanation “Only a Dinobot would fall for that! You know he’ll smell something funny about it!”  
Soundwave folded his arms and contracted his faceplate as he heard the Triple-Changers approach, whispering to Starscream _“...they’ll be none the wiser, trust me.”  
  
_


	12. Fear of an Autobot -part 3-

“Solarflare, open your cavity!” Perceptor ordered, trying with all his skills as a scientist to entice the hermaphrodite to do as instructed with very little signs of him doing so. The Decepticon gritted his teeth together and held back his screams, ensuring his plug was tightly sealed preventing the delivery from progressing. Ratchet also assisted Perceptor in the enticing, but like his colleague he failed.  
The pressure within Solarflares Fusion Cavity was growing so intense that he could feel his generator strain; his insides burning and swelling in sheer agony from the young seeking escape, but he denied their passage. Delivered hatchlings here would expose them to Autobot sounds, smells and touches; they would hatch as a vessel seeking mother or father’s response to their crying as it was their touch alone that determined their senses as Autobot or Decepticon.  
A single touch was all it took to fire the Spark within them, but the sounds and smells they detected as they developed within their eggs or pods would fuel curiosity.  
 _What did I just hear; was that my mother? My father? Whose scent is that I smell?_  
 If they smelt and heard Autobots through their entire development they would hatch believing strongly that they would be their parents, they would never question why they looked different or felt different. Gama may have been born in an environment without his father, and was being raised without him, but as a hatchling within his mother and growing as a Podling he smelt him and heard him.  
Solarflare continued to refuse delivering, even as Perceptor began requesting Optimus Prime to force a Cavity Removal so all the young could be removed safely, with the risk of the Decepticon losing his Fusion Cavity in the process. The Autobot leader on one hand agreed to the process, as it would save both the young and their mother, but on the other he felt that losing his chance to reproduce again would be devastating to Solarflare. However the risk would have to be taken, otherwise both the Triple-Changing Decepticon and all of his young would die within him “Perceptor you have my permission to begin the Cavity Removal process, just be careful.” Optimus announced, glancing to Solarflare as he stared in shock at the answer.  
The Autobot Leader placed a hand on the Decepticons shoulder as Perceptor rushed to gather the tools he needed, uttering sympathetically “...you’ve left us and your infants no other choice.”  
The Triple-Changer groaned as his hatchlings continued to press against his cavity doors, seeking exit more desperately than ever. He had no idea how long he could keep up the delay, or how long it would be before his generator fired into a burning explosion.  
Alarm bells rang through Solarflares mind as the pain skyrocketed within his cavity, and arching his head against the operating table he released an almighty scream. The sounds caused Optimus Prime and Ratchet to slap their hands over their auditory sensors, whilst Jazz tried with all forms of effort to ignore the noise and do as he was told. However the sounds following the screams caught everyone’s attention immediately; the Decepticon Alert Sirens were sounding “Optimus! We’ve got Astrotrain on visual on Teletran 1! He’s heading right this way!” Bumblebee informed, rushing into the room.  
The Autobot Leader nodded to Ratchet and Jazz as he departed, informing them to keep working on Solarflare and his delivery no matter what they hear happening outside. Surely enough, the weak and heavily pregnant Decepticon began succumbing to the pains he brought on himself once the Leader left; he started panting, the colour in his eyes started to fade, and the Autobots smelt his generator emit smoke as the Triple-Changer slowly slipped from consciousness. Solarflare...was dying.  
  
Outside was a different story; Astrotrain had set himself down out of sight of the Autobots and released his occupants Starscream and Soundwave to do what they came here to do “Alright Astrotrain, wait here in your Shuttle Mode for us to arrive with Flare. Soundwave, I’ll provide a distraction while you go inside and rescue him.” Starscream informed, ducking behind a mound of boulders and trees that kept the trio hidden from the Autobot hordes just a few meters away “Understood. Try to be quick though, I’m not sure how long Thundercracker can keep the young ones occupied without getting seriously hurt.” Astrotrain responded, keeping his vehicle mode active.  
Soundwave nodded to Starscream who returned the gesture, before watching as the Seeker jumped over the pile of rocks and into the open; exposing himself to the Autobots.  
“It’s Starscream! Nail some bullets into his chassis!!” Brawn yelled, getting ready to fire his weapon until the arrival of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee prevented the trigger-itchy Autobots from doing something stupid.  
“Everyone; hold your fire!” Optimus Prime ordered, holding his unarmed hand in the air. The Autobot  Leader watched as Starscream slowly made the distance between himself and the base smaller, and noticed he was unarmed nor showing any signs of aggression.  
He thought this was the Seeker naturally attempting to find his mate to assist in the delivery of his young, as all other reasons for him finding the location of said partner so easily didn’t fit or make any sense.  
Starscream being unarmed and showing no forms of hostility however was a concern, and both factors in accordance to Perceptors research meant the Seeker was up to something.  
“Starscream, you were the last Cybertronian I’d imagine coming here.” Optimus began but continued as the Seeker also continued his steady approach “Explain your reasons for being here, and we will allow you to leave unharmed.”  
The Seeker hissed once he was stopped by Optimus Prime firing a gunshot a few inches from his feet, telling the ex-Decepticon that he was comfortable with the distance he got to and wished for him to not come any closer. Starscream raised himself upright from his slouched posture, groaning as his lower back cracked to relieve the tension of the domination he was put through before arriving at the Autobot Base.  
Optimus Prime repeated his request to know why the Seeker was here, only to hear him growl as an answer “Starscream, answer the request or we’ll be forced to evict you from this area.” Again, the Seeker didn’t answer. Instead he began pacing left and right, keeping his eyes locked on the Autobot Leader and only ever shifting his stare to observe Jetfire and his Aerialbots.  
 _“Jetfire and his squad could cause a problem in escaping by air, unless I give Astrotrain all the leftover Energon we brought along.”_ The Seeker thought, recapping the escape plan in his head as he continued to pace back and forth. He was twitchy, agitated. He could sense Solarflare was in horrific pain and was holding back the delivery because he, the mate the young belonged to, wasn’t there; Solarflare did it last time, delayed delivering Soundwaves young in the presence of the one they didn’t belong to.  
Every second he felt the need to be beside his partner, caressing him as he delivered to sooth his mental pains, stroking his bulged abdomen to make him feel at ease that his SparkMate was there for him. But with a mass of Autobots in the way the emotions swelled, churned...Ironhide surfaced from the base at pretty much the wrong time, as the Salt Water bath he was given didn’t get rid of Solarflares scent mark that well at all. And as soon as Solarflares scent hit him, the Seeker began to lose focus and control of himself.  
“I find this behaviour most...curious...” Tracks announced next to Mirage, who didn’t even notice Soundwave sneak past and into the Base “...curious isn’t the word for this behaviour, I’d call it primitive.” Mirage replied, watching as Starscream fought internally with himself; fighting the urges to pick a fight, leave his own mark and seek out Soundwave to dominate him. One thing the Seeker couldn’t hide was the growing blush on his face as he became more entranced by the smell; at their previous location the scent was weak, and was perfectly acceptable if he wasn’t occupying his mind on another task entirely. But being so close to the mark meant the scent was incredibly powerful, along with its side-effects.  
The Autobots around Ironhide who didn’t have faceplates retreated to a different spot in the line, with only Red Alert being unaffected by the smell. Starscream grew curious as to why the paranoid Autobot wasn’t showing any signs of disgust or fear when he was stood right next to a Decepticon Mark, and thankfully the thoughts kept a majority of the smells side-effects at bay.  
“Starscream, you have thirty Astroseconds to answer or I’ll evict you myself.” Optimus Prime warned, noticing how his Autobot comrades chuckled at the ever growing blush on Starscreams face. Said Seekers knees shook as he inhaled deeply through his nose, absorbing the scent, and moaned as the odour sent shivers down his spine. A quick shake of his head rid him of the desire to frag-off his own mark allowed his mind to clear enough to respond to Optimus Prime “...I can smell him; he’s here.” The Seeker exhaled but continued “you have abducted my SparkMate and my offspring, this act is not acceptable. So return them both to me unharmed or I’ll destroy you all where you stand.”  
The instant the Seeker finished speaking; every Autobot but Optimus himself started laughing. Whilst Starscreams threat was indeed pathetic, the meaning was all too clear to Optimus Prime; he was challenging the Autobot Leader, not every individual, to a fight. It was a part of Decepticon nature to target the one who dared bring harm to them or their family, in this case the one who abducted Solarflare, and not the ones who were handling him inside.  
What Optimus didn’t know was that Starscream would use this fight as a perfect distraction for Solarflare and Soundwave to board Astrotrain and make their escape.  
“You’re young and inexperienced, Starscream.” Optimus began “You may be capable of producing young with Solarflare, but you lack the age and wisdom to raise them. They would be in better care with us--” the Seeker cut the Autobot leader short the instant he tried to suggest the Autobots would be better parents than Solarflare and himself could ever be “—don’t you DARE talk that way about me or my lineage! I am capable! I am experienced! I am perfect to my mate! Now push me further and I will attack!!” Starscream snapped, kicking dust in the Autobot Leaders direction. Said Leader holstered his weapon and approached the Seeker cracking his knuckles to see if the jet would stand his ground or flee, making direct eye contact with him with every step he took towards him. The Seekers legs twitched, desiring to move backwards with the giant Autobots approach, as did his eyes display his fear over being crushed with little effort. But in his Spark he knew he had to hold his ground, he knew that if he didn’t Soundwave would fail in the rescue and Solarflare would remain under Autobot capture...as would his sons and daughters.  
Optimus Prime stopped his approach when within arm’s reach of the ex-Decepticon, looking down on him slightly irritated by what he saw; the instinctive drive to run away was actually being overridden by his parental drive. Could it be Solarflare delivered and triggered this behaviour? “Starscream; over there. Now.” Optimus Prime ordered, pointing to a more open area away from the base entrance “If we are to duel, we will do it like Civilised Cybertronians, not Decepticons.”  
The Seeker chuckled at the Autobot Leader and kept his head low, hiding his smirk.  
The moment he began to move to the location Optimus requested, he listened in on if the other Autobots would follow them both. His smirk grew as he heard the hordes follow their leader like sheep, granting easier and stealthier escape manoeuvres for Solarflare and Soundwave when the opportunity came to rise. Starscream just hoped he could fight the chemicals in Solarflares mark long enough to allow the distraction to continue, as he was already feeling signs of his logic circuits turning off and his Fusion Drive turning on.  
Once both Cybertronians had met in the open space, Optimus Prime removed his weapons and handed them to Ironhide. Starscream was already unarmed, and started stretching his joints to prepare for hand-to-hand combat. He had a bounce to his step and flicked his wrists effortlessly showing off his nimbleness, displaying to his opponent that he was more agile than he may think. The displays didn’t register for many of the spectators, but Optimus Prime read them very easily “Starscream this is going to be a one on one match with no weapons or transformations.” The Autobot Leader announced as he cracked his neck and knuckles, sending the Seeker a display of his own in the form of his tough chassis and strong arms.  
Starscream calmly let off a nod as his form of agreement and stopped his light bouncing steps to put up his defensive stance, ready to lock horns with the Prime “You may be tough Prime, but I’m faster than you.” The Seeker mocked, licking his lips to sooth his dried out mouth caused by the growing scent “We’ll see how long you can last in civilized Cybertronian combat, before your primitive Decepticon drive kicks in, Starscream.”  
  
Back inside, Soundwave had made his way undetected into the Base. Following the scent of the pregnant Decepticon, the Cassette player found his objective strapped to an operating table...with Perceptor and Ratchet about to begin the Cavity Removal process “Access to Solarflares cavity has been REJECTED.” Soundwave informed as he stormed into the room, whacking Ratchet across the head with his drawn weapon knocking him unconscious.  
Perceptor prepared to draw his own weapon when the blue Decepticon fired at it, preventing the scientist from fighting back. Solarflare lay unconscious on the table as Soundwave knocked down Perceptor, showing no signs at all of even being alive.  
“Flare we must depart with haste before—” Soundwave began as he unstrapped the Decepticon Hermaphrodite from the table, only to be tackled from behind by Perceptor “—let us finish our work! If we don’t remove Solarflares Cavity main hatch then all hir young and shi hirself will perish!!” the Autobot informed, keeping a tight hold on the flailing Soundwave.  
The Cassette player wasn’t accepting any of the Autobots words or gestures, and grasped his arm with little effort and tossed him to the floor “Flare will die if he remains here. We are to depart immediately.” He informed as he knocked out Perceptor before he could recover from being thrown down. The blue Decepticon then hauled up the still unconscious (and very heavy) Triple-Changer and began carrying him outside; there Soundwave caught sight and sound of Starscream fighting with Optimus Prime, but instead of scouting for a peek at what was happening the Cassette player instead continued on his way undetected to Astrotrain.  
“Solar...oh dear Primus what did they do to you?!” Astrotrain gawked as his friend was loaded into his Shuttle mode and laid on a padded area within the Triple-Changer. Soundwave sat the Herm upright and began inspecting him for damage or the reasons for his unresponsiveness, when suddenly it hit him; he was entering stasis lock.  
If that happened his young would continue to push against his inner frame, and would literally tear him apart from the inside and crush all the eggs. “Astrotrain, we must gain Starscreams attention. Depart.”  
The Triple-Changer chuffed before taking off, keeping his side door open so Soundwave could gesture that Solarflare was with him.  
The group flew above the fight, which Starscream was losing, before flying around said battle in circles until the Seeker finally caught visual. But he was not the only one who saw Astrotrain, for all the Autobots including Optimus Prime had seen the triple-changer also. And once Starscream was certain they were distracted he took off and flew through the open door into the triple-changer, forcing the doors shut before the Aerialbots could get inside to pursue him.  
“Astrotrain, get us out of here!” he shrieked, rubbing his forehead of the leaking Energon brought about by his fight. The shuttle was more than happy to bolt them out of the area, and was even fast enough to out fly the Aerialbots thanks to the spare Energon.  
Once the group was clear, Starscream sat beside his sleeping and very sick looking mate; he leaned in to listen to his breathing only to hear it stutter, listened to his Spark pulse worryingly slow, and twitched in annoyance as his Team-Mate arrived and confirmed what he feared “...Flare’s entering Stasis Lock. We need to bring him out of it right now.” Soundwave informed, kneeling beside the sleeping Herm to place a hand against his forehead “How do you expect us to wake him up if running from the Autobots did nothing?!” Starscream hissed, nudging his superior away from their shared SparkMate.  
The Cassette player stood up and folded his arms before pacing, not noticing the Seeker placing his hands onto the swelled abdomen of the triple-changing herm and begin stroking. The moment Starscreams hands touched Solarflare the Seeker smiled softly, feeling under his touch his children seeking escape from their very weak mother. “...everything will be alright...I won’t let anything happen to you...” He whispered to the bulged abdomen, purring as under his fingertips the young stirred gently. He wanted to help them escape, and he wanted to do it right now.  
Starscream shifted his position to right in front of his sleeping SparkMate, and turned only to see what Soundwave was doing before continuing. Thankfully the Cassette player had gone to the cockpit to ask Astrotrain about Breakdown and his condition, leaving the Seeker with his prized partner and offspring.  
Inside he was afraid of messing up the procedure of delivering, but for reasons unknown to his logic circuits he felt like he knew what he was doing. And so he began; opening Solarflares Fusion Cavity doors exposing the tightly shut plug, which seemed to show no signs of moving at all. It was as if his body was refilling the Cavity with Energon, which wasn’t the case since he still had young within him. Could it be that the delayed pregnancy had confused the way his body worked? Perhaps. All Starscream knew was that if he failed here, he risked losing the only things he had left.  
The ex-Decepticon tickled the plug to see if it would budge, but there was no sign of movement from any of Solarflares body parts. So he tried stroking the cavity again, but once more there was no result. Then an idea hit him, one that would possibly look strange to Soundwave and Astrotrain, but he knew he had to try...the lives of his children depended on him.  
The Seeker groaned as he pressed his index finger onto the plug, applying enough pressure for it to slip inside the cavity and make contact with the first youngster inside. The minute Starscream broke into Solarflares cavity the triple-changing herms face lit up with a pink hue, and life seemed to return to him. However he still wasn’t showing signs of the cavity opening any further, which meant that if he didn’t deliver soon he’d enter the process of Stasis Lock again.  
Starscream removed his finger and pressed his lips against his slumbering SparkMates, exhaling as he maintained facial contact with the herm _“The Flare I know...doesn’t give up...”_ he whispered softly, keeping his eyes closed as he listened to his partner breathing “...so don’t you dare give up on me baby...” he muttered, grasping Solarflares uplink cable and his own, preparing to connect them together. The moment both cables fused their wires the herm gasped and awakened, grasping tightly onto the Seeker staring him in the eyes “...that’s it; I’ve got you...now open up and push...” He requested softly, hearing his partner groan in pain and continue to delay delivering.  
The Seeker took his partners hand in his own and kissed it, muffling his words as he pleaded for the herm to have his young safely delivered “...do it for them, Flare...please...” he requested softly, releasing the triple-changers hand.  
Solarflare moaned as the Seeker once again penetrated his plug with his hands, steadily forcing the cavity open to grasp as many of the young inside as he could, looking up to the herm with ever inch he attempted to pull the young out with.  
“Open...please...open...” Starscream pleaded as Solarflare looked down at his mate in agony; his teeth locked together, his cheeks flushed pink, as he watched Starscream assist in delivering his young. Said Seeker stuck out his tongue as he concentrated on his job, releasing a sigh as his partner finally opened his cavity all the way.  
The ex-Decepticon let out a soft laugh of joy as the first set of Hatchlings became exposed; more determined on ensuring the young were safely delivered than on Solarflare screaming in agony.  
As Starscream steadily pulled out the Jellergon Mass, repeating to the Herm over and over to help push out the young, Solarflare continued to feel both pain and relief as the swarms of eggs left his body “Good Flare, very good...just one more should get them all out.” Starscream exhaled softly, not even flinching in disgust as the Jellergon sack broke and spilled out all the Hatchlings between his mates’ legs.  
Solarflare panted as he finished releasing his young; closing his cavity and sealing it tightly shut the instant he felt the last egg depart from his body.  
“Excellent work Flare...you’ve done a wonderful job producing this many hatchlings.” The Seeker purred, reaching over to apprehend a nearby tub and sheet of fabric to secure the hatchlings and clean his mate“...how many *pant*...are there? *pant* Are they all...*pant* alive?” Solarflare panted, resting his arms across his abdomen.  
Starscream slipped a smile to the weak triple-changer as he finished placing the Hatchlings into the tub, and began cleaning Solarflares abdomen “Eighty...two are slightly damaged, but they’re not broken.” He informed, cleaning the Jellergon from his own hands once he had finished cleaning his SparkMate “So affirmative; all are alive.” He finished speaking as he as he started cleaning off each Hatchling ball one by one, gently removing the storage fluid from their Jellergon Barriers.  
Solarflare sighed with relief as Starscream presented the tub of young, with the Seeker expressing a large amount of interest in the biggest egg “...this one is very large. I suggest we keep this one hidden from everyone, even our comrades. I sense something special within it.”  
Solarflare nodded softly and received the egg, and began whispering to it. Purring as he felt his partner sit behind him, resting the herms frame against his own and placing his hands on his abdomen, then began massaging it “Take it easy now...your work is done...” the Seeker began, kissing Solarflares helmet “...We’ll be home soon enough.”  
The moment the pair began to nod off with their young close to them, Soundwave arrived. The blue Decepticon didn’t hear the screams of Solarflares delivery or even sense it taking place, so returning to find the young safely delivered and his SparkMate alive and well “...Flare you delivered? Who assisted you?” Soundwave questioned, approaching the jets and their young “...Screamer did.” Solarflare answered tiredly “...it surprised me he even bothered to save me.”  
Starscream lowered his calm and somewhat happy expression into a bitter and cold stare as he closely observed the Cassette players movements, not caring what Solarflare had just said about him. He would prove to the triple-changer how much better he was than Soundwave; show his greatness as a parent and as a lover. So once Soundwave got a bit too close for comfort to his offspring the Seeker released a sharp hiss and clung to Solarflare tightly like a wild animal protecting its kill.  
“Back off, Soundwave!” Starscream snapped, removing himself from behind Solarflare to stand between his rival and his youngsters. Soundwave stopped his approach and locked glares with the Seeker, huffing and turning his back on him the instant he realised his parental drive branded the blue Decepticon a threat.  
“Alright Screamer, I’ll give you the space you want...but I was going to inform you that we have a slight problem.” Soundwave announced with his back still turned. The Seeker snarled at the Cassette player, snorting once Soundwave turned to lock stares with him again “...Thundercracker just sent me a message; the Autobots have found our base and are trying to break in. The Sanctuary is no longer safe.”  
The last few words hit Starscream hardest; _no longer safe._  
He could never take these unborn to the Sanctuary, not with them being at risk of slaughter or falling into Autobot hands. The Seeker remained silent as the realisation hit him; they had nowhere else to run, no place to hide in security. Megatron would find them all and kill every last one of them and their offspring.  
“Thundercracker has persuaded Breakdown and Skywarp to work with us; they’ve already picked up my young and are ready to make a break for another hiding spot.” Soundwave informed, folding his arms as he observed Starscreams weakening nature “...we have no location marked as secure enough, we may have to split into three groups.” He added, lowering his gaze as the reality of having to part with his sons sunk in. Solarflare however remained calm, most likely caused by the inner relief he felt now he had delivered, but he also knew something the others did not.  
“...dears...” he uttered softly, holding onto the tub of youngsters protectively “...there is a place that is more secure than anywhere else on the planet.” Solarflares words rang through the two SparkMates, instantly gaining their attention. Soundwave tilted his head as Starscream franticly asked the triple-changer where the location was, desperate to find a new and more importantly safe haven for his offspring to grow up in.  
Solarflare edged himself to his feet, flinching in discomfort as he slowly recovered from the delivery, and handed Starscream the tub of eggs before steadily making his way towards Astrotrains cockpit “...NEST...” he muttered, taking control of his fellow triple-changers guidance system and setting in the coordinates.  
Starscream raised a brow as Solarflare continued to ramble, hissing at Soundwave once the blue Decepticon attempted to peek at the youngsters in the tub “...before I became heavily pregnant with your young, Screamer, I began construction on a secret hideaway. I built it from the remnants of the humanoids ‘International Space Station’; you might remember Megatron ordered it to be dismantled some time ago, well he believed all traces of the station were destroyed.” Solarflare explained, stroking Starscreams cheeks as he returned to resting against the padded surfaces “...well I found the debris in space, and reconstructed it into a liveable location for us and our young. Of course with it being in space, we don’t have to worry about humans poking their noses around or Autobots abducting any of the children. We only have to worry about...Omega Supreme.”  
Starscream handed his mate the offspring and chuckled “Very cunning Flare, you really did prepare for all of this.” The Seeker said smugly, licking Solarflares cheek teasingly whilst Soundwave kept his distance and continued to stare low.  
All was fine getting the ex-Decepticons Hatchlings up to the station, but what about his Sparklings on Earth? What about them?  
Soundwave groaned as he felt Astrotrain ascend into Space and head towards the coordinates he was given, suspecting that the delivery had messed with Solarflares reasoning and memories; how could he so easily forget about his first-borns? The feelings left the Cassette player twitchy and sick within his processors, but speaking now would yield no results. This was Solars Family, his ‘Flare’, and he would decide whose young he carried and whose he left behind. However Soundwave wouldn’t have to worry anymore once Solarflare departed Astrotrain with the hatchlings into the reconstructed Space Station, as he demanded both of them to assist the two Seekers and Stunticon on Earth in bringing the remaining youngsters to him.  
“Soundwave, Astrotrain; return to Earth and bring everyone up here. Starscream, stay with me...I need to talk to you.” Solarflare instructed, placing the tub of youngsters beside a computer console which the triple-changer began working on. Soundwave nodded to Astrotrain before taking departure, watching as Solarflare used his Uplink Cable to open the reinforced doors like a key by connecting it to the computer.

Starscream indeed did remain behind, and carried the Hatchlings into the station “What did you want to talk about, Flare?” the Seeker asked, scouting his surroundings as he continued to carry the tub. Solarflare chuckled as he closed the doors and ensured they were locked, before slowly making his way in front of the Seeker to direct him to where the young should be placed “Soon, Screamer. For now follow me.” He purred, sliding through the corridors with a grin on his face. Starscream raised a brow as he continued to follow his SparkMate, until finally reaching the main centre of the Station. It was a wide and spacious area, appearing to be made out of glass to make it seem that it was surrounded by the stars, with a magnificent view of the Earth before it.  
In the rooms core was a large metal pillar, towering mid-way to the ceiling and decorated with photographs and other pictures of the Solar System; at the top of the pillar was a projected hologram of the Solar System, which distorted and flickered on and off on random intervals. Solarflare chirped as he approached one of the large doors at the far right of the room, hammering his fist against a power switch that seemed to cause the entire space stations lighting to turn on.  
“This place still needs work, but so far everything is usable minus the Biology Room. I need to get the oxygen tanks running again.” Solarflare informed, shuffling to Starscream to apprehend the tub of youngsters from him. The Seeker was so awe-struck at his partner rebuilding an entire Space Station by himself that he failed to notice the youngsters being taken from him; however when he finally noticed they had been received by his SparkMate, Starscream watched his movements in anticipation for where the young would be brooded.  
“Screamer...about that talk...” Solarflare began, kicking the pillar to dislodge a poorly padded sleeping tank from its side “...I want to make a few things clear; about us and about our future.” The triple-changer continued as he poured the eggs into the padded tank before covering them over with a very poorly made blanket “Although the young are both of ours, I don’t want them running to their deaths because of your orders. So I’m not allowing them to enlist into the Decepticon Army.” Solarflare continued sounding rather bitter “But Flare—” Starscream began his protest, but was cut short as his mate lay across the covered hatchlings, protecting them with his chassis.  
Starscream twitched as his SparkMate lay across the fragile eggs with his body, fearing the weight of his partner would crush them.  
He furrowed his brow as Solarflare adjusted himself to get more comfortable, gaining the triple-changing herms attention “...don’t be so worried; what I’m doing is perfectly natural to protect the children. My weight cannot harm them.” Solarflare informed, before continuing with his rambling once he was certain Starscream was at ease “So...they will not be soldiers, I want them to seek a safer life...away from war. Understand?”  
Starscream groaned at his partner before approaching and sitting beside his sprawled out frame, stroking his generator and back lovingly “I want them to be what they want to be, and I don’t think either of us have a right to force them to be anything else.” Starscream said as he continued his caressing. Whilst he was pleased with what was going on, along with their new base, Solarflare was not entirely satisfied; Cybertron was still a danger with Megatron in command of the Decepticons. “Screamer, I need to ask you a favour...do this for me and I’ll pretend that argument we had never happened.” He suggested, his cheeks flushing pink as he felt the Seekers hands fondle his Uplink Cable and Docking Ports.  
“Anything for you, my dear.” Starscream purred, sliding his fingers up and down the stub of his partners’ cable causing his blush to grow. “*gasp* S-screamer...man the computer---find out what is happening on Cybertron.” Solarflare requested, trying with all his might to hold back further gasps and blushing.  
The Seeker rolled his eyes and groaned in disappointment, getting to his feet and trailing towards the large computer terminal opposite the hatchling bed “Fine, fine...like I said ‘anything for you’.” He sighed as he began operating the machine. Solarflare adjusted himself once again nesting the eggs beneath him so they were best protected; he smiled sheepishly as his mate turned to look at his odd positioning before he returned to working on the computer, muttering to himself.  
Solarflare purred as he began to doze off on the mound of young, sheltering them from the eyes of any who entered along with any elements triggered by faulty machinery. And as he began his slumber, the Triple-Changer began to reflect on what got him to this point; the death of his creator, the union with Starscream and then knotting himself into the Decepticon system so tightly.  
He admitted to himself that he had indeed done damage were he never wished, and brought an inner struggle in his creation-faction without noticing it, but he failed to admit that killing Lunacus was wrong. That it was a huge mistake.  
  
 _(Flashback)_  
  
As Solarflare drifted into his sleep, protecting his young beneath his frame, images and sounds from his memories slowly crept into his dreams. The first of which were images of the last time he was with his creator; in the labs, near thirty miles from Kaon, adding the finishing touches to the lifeless chassis of the new Female Breeding Unit.  
The place was falling apart due to the neglect in war damage, with holes in the roof structure and half the room caved in and debris lying everywhere. If Lunacus wasn’t so ill with madness, perhaps he would have realised the damage was a danger to himself and his creations.  
“Solis, hand me the wrench.” Lunacus requested, finishing off the construction of the new units legs. Solarflare strolled from the corner of the room with the wrench, and handed it to his master with his head held low; refusing to make eye contact “You haven’t said a word for nearly two days. Did I damage your vocal processors when I changed them?” Lunacus questioned, taking the wrench and beginning the process of attaching the legs to the unit.  
Solarflare didn’t respond, and instead turned his back on his creator to sit in the corner of the room by himself.  
Lunacus cackled as he witnessed his failed creation isolate himself, before finishing the assembly of the Breeder Unit “Solis meet your sister and future replacement; Nova.”  
The triple-changing hermaphrodite hissed and kept his back turned on his creator, refusing to even mutter to himself. The bitterness in his processor thanks to that conversation he overheard made him feel raw hatred; so much malevolence and malice he was exposed to in just five minutes of dialogue turned his respect for his creator into sheer sickness and spite.  
The fact Lunacus even announced Nova as being Solarflares ‘replacement’ so casually set the Spark within him flaring for justice, seeking for cleansing. The triple-changer licked his lips as he tasted the remnants of oil he had for his casual snack, blocking out the words rolling from Lunacus’ mouth as he sat in his silent isolation.  
He did as promised to his creator; he helped him finish constructing Novas body. Now he was able to make his own decision on where he wanted his life to go, who he obeyed, where he travelled to and who he mated with. Lunacus no longer was required in his life.  
“Solis, we can now finish converting you from female to male. We can remove the female Fusion Cavity. Isn’t that nice?” Lunacus cackled, stroking the wrench as he slowly made his way to Solarflare whose back was still turned.  
The triple-changer growled as he observed his creators shadow grow ever larger as he approached, clenching his abdomen tightly as he heard the menacing tone of Lunacus utter the words _“let’s take it out, out, out, out. Let’s take it out.~”_ as if in song; Solarflare exhaled and clenched his female cavity tighter as he felt Lunacus tap his shoulder with the wrench, snarling in rage once his creator edged him from the floor.  
The triple-changing Hermaphrodite hissed as he pulled himself free from Lunacus’ grasp, and clenched himself into a ball back in the corner “Don’t delay this process, Solis; you were not meant to be this way. I didn’t design you to be like this; not once or never, this form should not be maintained for you...ever.” the mad-Decepticon scientist continued in his cackled song, teasing his creation with the wrench and his clawed hands.  
Solarflare hissed as once again he was pulled from the floor, and in an instant he turned to grasp the wrench from Lunacus’ hands, prying it from him and pushing the mad-Decepticon from him.  
“Solis! How dare you!” Lunacus snapped, stumbling backwards as his creation pushed him away “I created you!!”  
Solarflare snarled and tossed the wrench in his hand, following a pattern of tossing every few seconds as he turned the tables and began approaching his creator “...your disrespect will not be left unpunished, Solis!” Lunacus continued to scream his threats, but Solarflare kept his cool and slowly made his menacing approach; tossing the wrench, staring coldly with his head tilted low, fixated on what he had decided to do.  
The mad-Decepticon slipped as he was edged into the operating table where his new creation, Nova, lay. The Triple-changer smirked as his creator struggled to get back up, and firmly planted his foot onto Lunacus chest pinning him where he laid.  
“You are no longer needed in my life.” Solarflare said bitterly, a chuckle in his voice as he applied more pressure on his creator with his foot. The reality of what was about to happen hit Lunacus logic circuits, the fear growing as Solarflares smirk also grew into a toothy smile. He made a critical error in Solarflare; he believed that because he created him he would never bring about harm to him. But he was sadly mistaken, as Solarflare raised the wrench up and hissed _“Goodbye, Lunacus.”_ Before slamming the object into his creators’ body repeatedly, bashing his chassis into scrap parts and spraying the mad-Decepticons life-blood Energon across him with every hit.  
Lunacus screamed out in agony as his own creation brutally attacked him with his workstations equipment; shifting from the wrench to a hammer, and then finally to a blade. Solarflare hissed as he used the last tool to cut through Lunacus’ Spark, putting out the mad-Decepticons lights forever. The Triple-Changer panted once he heard the screams stop; his face covered in droplets of Energon Blood and oil, listening to the silence of the vicinity and sucking in as much of the death-polluted air as he could.  
Solarflare locked his teeth together and snarled as he grasped the lifeless head of his creator, and severed it with the blade before throwing it into a mound of scrap metal. He had removed one burden in his life, and was now ready to remove the next target; the inactivated Breeding Unit, Nova.  
Solarflare approached the lifeless vessel with the blade still in his hand, covered in the remnants of Lunacus’ brutal demise, a cold and uncertain look in his eyes. He would not be murdering Nova, as she was not even alive, but by doing this process he would be denying her life. Surely he had done enough damage by destroying the one being who knew how to produce Solar Powered Transformers; especially ones that could pass on that ability through breeding?  
He didn’t care anymore; Lunacus was mad and was going to deny him the right to produce offspring he wished for so desperately.  
Solarflare roared as he used the blade to hack up the empty vessel that was even called his sister, until it was unable to be repaired. Once he was certain all the parts of Nova and Lunacus where destroyed enough, he gathered them all and threw them into the underground disposal units where he crushed them into boxes, making them unidentifiable alongside other scrap parts. In his fury, Solarflare forgot he tossed his creators head into a normal pile of rubble, leaving it as evidence of the murder he committed.  
  
The next set of images that began to run through Solarflares dreams, were not really images at all. He dreamt darkness, but heard only what he wished he never did hear; the conversation between Lunacus and an unknown male Decepticon, about his future.  
 _“Lunacus, what word do you have of Solis?”_  
“Ah! That drone! It’s a failure. You wouldn’t be interested in it any more. It won’t conceive.”  
“I don’t care if she won’t conceive willingly; you know who I am as will she does. I will force her.”  
“No, you don’t understand! It’s not a ‘she’ anymore...Vector Sigma made a serious error in the personality and...”  
“Don’t tell me, she has a male personality. Well I don’t care about that, so long as it has a female cavity and can still produce young I can still mate with it. So tell me what I want to hear.”  
“Well...shi is...very bitter. Even if I told hir who you are shi’d still refuse to mate with you. They’ve become choosey.”  
“Wonderful, she’s a Super Breeder then. You’re making me want to meet her even more, Lunacus.”  
“No you don’t understand! Shi behaves like a Super Breeder, but shi is built like a commoner because of the male modifications; shi is useless!”  
“Then what do you intend to do with her? Leave her cavity to rust without once being used? I say that is a waste of resources.”  
“I will be deactivating hir when shi helps me finish making the new female units, but once Nova is finished I will take out the female cavity in Solis and place it within her; that way nothing gets wasted.”  
“Lunacus, I want to meet Solis before you do any such modification. Report back to me when Nova is finished.”  
“...understood.”  
  
Solarflare twitched in slumber as the dialogue ended, with the images of the next memories flowing into his dreams. The events that took place shortly after he murdered Lunacus and disposed of the evidence.  
The triple-changer stumbled from the entrance to the facility he was created in, still covered in life-blood Energon and oil, unarmed and very weak from the frantic attempts he made to destroy every last fragment of his sister and creator. His eyes slammed shut the instant they came into contact with the dim but deep lights of the Decepticon streets, groaning as he slowly edged his frame around the building complex into an alleyway and into the underground passages.  
He panted, pushing past other Decepticons as he forced his way into one of the trains ready to depart to Kaon, ignoring the stares he received at his bloodied chassis and face. The triple-changer continued panting as he leaned against the trains’ inner wall, relieved as he heard and felt it depart on its way to the Decepticon Capital.  
The trip was brief, but painful as he continued to be stared at coldly by fellow Decepticons, feeling their eyes cut through his outer shell as if hunting for an answer to something. He looked male, but smelt female; walked like a male but used his arms as if he were female.  
They most likely stared at the blood-Energon and oil as if wondering what had just happened, but Solarflare couldn’t help but think that they stared wondering what he was. Thankfully once he arrived at his stop in Kaon he was quick to break free from the stares, panting as he ran from the station and up into the streets narrowly avoiding a collision with a transformed Decepticon truck.  
“HEY! Watch it, weirdo!” the truck yelled, nudging Solarflare to move aside faster. The triple-changer gasped and stepped aside, watching in awe as the truck zoomed down the street at blazing speeds. This was his first time in the outside world, minus the moments to charge in the sunlight or stroll into the street of the calmer Decepticon suburbs, but this was his very first time in Kaon; the city he was always told about.  
It was an amazing sight, and all the moments he spent looking up at the tall structures he had to bolt his vision to the street to avoid further traffic. So he continued to walk freely through the streets, seeing sights and hearing sounds he had never experienced before; rushing to touch and smell objects that were totally alien to him. He was releasing his inner child, fuelled by curiosity to learn everything he could about the outside world.  
Solarflare stopped his exploring the minute he heard sirens sound through the city, and watched as all the residents transformed into their disguised modes of vehicles or parts of the city to blend in. A single large truck stormed through the streets once the road was cleared, with several Decepticon guards holding onto the back with firearms drawn, cheering as the truck continued to bolt down the street.  
Solarflare stepped into the middle of the road to watch the vehicle zoom away, not taking notice of a second truck driving at full speed behind him. And within a moment he was knocked down, his wings crushed under the weight of the tires, and the last thing he saw before blacking out was a familiar white Decepticon riding on the back of the vehicle that just ran him over; Megatron. However he did not know what happened after the hit he received, and when he awakened he was in a repair bay.  
Did he learn anything from that experience? Most certainly; never stand in the middle of a street whilst a Decepticon bandwagon where rushing to invading Autobots.  
Another thing he learnt? Why, looks are always deceitful. It was the images of his next dream that reminded him of the reasons behind that lesson; the memories of his first ever encounter with Starscream, his cousin and current partner.  
  
Solarflare had strong connections with Astrotrain and Blitzwing, the Triple Changing Trio they called themselves; and it was through those connections that Solarflare got his jobs working underground as a criminal, flashing off to potential partners that he was self-sufficient but was not to be taken advantage of either.  
Skimming through the tunnels quickly like a metallic feline undetected and effortlessly gathering information and items that would later be sold to Autobots and Decepticons claiming the objects would help their side win the war. Yet on the side he couldn’t help but open his solar panels when above ground, faking trips and having to pick up dropped objects just to catch a male or twos eyes; teasing them by sucking on his fingers and thumbs, swaying his hips and flashing a peak from under his helmet of his crest.  
He was, in most Decepticons opinion back on Cybertron, a filthy processor (a whore). But from new intelligence on him and what he wanted in life, he did exactly what he needed to do in order to get the males into giving him offspring.  
He displayed, courted and wooed until finally mating and raising the results of it.  
Yes he remembered it; how Starscream first met him in an underground rogue meeting, along the lines as a normal Seeker drone sent to purchase the latest stolen information or equipment, not even caring about who was around him at the time. All those in the underground society looked and behaved like expected of criminal scum; pathetic, worn out and brutal looking. There was nothing to worth looking at or asking about when it came to them; however, Solarflare was a different story as he was a totally different type of Decepticon.  
The moment the triple-changer set foot in the meeting to deliver his share of stolen goods all eyes fell upon him; silent and cold stares from males who branded him a defective unit (sexually confused), a filthy processor and worth more in scrap than anything else. However Starscream saw something in him; the way he waltzed in on the meeting swaying his hips, displaying his solar panels to the strangers whilst sucking his thumb.  
The Seeker at first was unsure of what to do, and ignored him. However as the evening progressed and the meeting brought forward more stolen items from Solarflare than any other member of the group, the more interested Starscream became in him.  
Curiosity struck the Second in Command and he found himself asking the triple-changer questions about his skills and lifestyle, and before he knew it he learnt of the relation they shared; how his chassis had similar features, how their Spark pulsed so closely and the beliefs they had. But he was not ready to get close to his cousin, as fate dictated the Autobots to perform a raid on the meeting; causing all the members to scatter in the darkness and into hiding, or failing in getting away from the raid party, leaving the two separated for many years.  
However in just those few hours, Starscream saw many small displays be flashed to him without his knowledge, and even had the occasional large display of Solarflares femininity registered in his memory circuits without knowing about it. It was the further displays his cousin gave to him once they got back in touch that started to reel in the Seeker into Solarflares web, mainly the last meeting they had before Starscreams departure with his Decepticon brothers to Earth.  
  
“Hahaha, did you see the way that Autobot Scout cornered himself? What a joke!” Starscream laughed as he polishing his Null-Ray, dragging the remains of the Autobot behind him as he walked alongside his shorter cousin to Kaons prison “I didn’t see what he did; I was too busy watching someone else.” Solarflare replied, tilting his head to flash an innocent look to the Decepticon beside him.  
Said Seeker chuckled under his breath as he observed the looks his cousin gave him, and sighed as the feminine stares continued “Solarflare, if I didn’t know any better...” he began with a chuckle, causing the triple-changers eyes to beam with excitement for what his desired target was about to suggest “... I’d say you have your eyes on someone in our ranks.” The Seeker purred, smirking as he stopped in front of his cousin to prevent them walking any further.  
The triple-changer stopped and glanced down at the injured Autobot they had captured, before looking up at Starscream still anticipating his answer. The Seeker licked his lips and exhaled, placing a hand on his hip with the polishing cloth still in his hand “So who is it? Astrotrain? Blitzwing? Or was it...Sunstorm?” he questioned with a hint of teasing in his voice.  
The instant Starscream issued the three possible Decepticons Solarflare was interested in the triple-changer pouted and resumed walking, refusing to answer “...what? Was it something I said?” Starscream laughed, increasing his stride to catch up to the power-walking and moody Hermaphrodite.  
Solarflare stopped his rapid advancement once they reached Kaons main gate, preventing his larger relative from passing through the gates with their catch. The Seeker took a final step towards his cousin only to bolt back in surprise as the triple-changer extended his Solar Panels and swayed side to side, flashing them off and flexing them to manipulate the light reflecting “Solarflare, we can’t drop this Autobot Spy in for questioning if you charge out here now.” Starscream whined, scooting around the displaying triple-changer through the gates.  
Solarflare groaned and retracted his panels before following the Seeker inside, watching in silence as the Autobot was taken from them and locked away for questioning, leaving them to discuss other matters “...Starscream, you know Sunstorm is related to me more than you are. He’s like a brother to me.” Solarflare began, walking alongside his Seeker cousin through the dark and twisted halls of Kaons prison “I know; I was just messing with you, you know that.” He replied, a slither of sympathy in his voice “So...did you find that job you wanted?”  
Solarflare giggled softly as they continued walking, covering his grin with the back of his hand “No, but the creatures proved...handy...in teaching me a few things.” He replied with a purr, causing Starscream to raise his brows in amusement “What creatures were these? Beasts with skills in running away?” the Seeker mocked, ceasing his laughter once it became apparent Solarflare was very annoyed “NO. They were Decepticons, but...not the kind you know about.” The triple-changer snapped as he turned to stare Starscream in the eyes, causing the Seeker to look away the moment their eyes made contact “I’d tell you more, but I swore never to tell until the time was right. Their survival rests on my secrecy.”  
Starscream and Solarflare remained in silence for further walking, looking around themselves and to each other only to look away once their eyes met. Starscream rubbed the back of his helmet and broke the silence “...but seriously tell me who you have your eyes on. I’m curious.” The Seeker chuckled, watching as fellow Decepticons passed by thereby not noticing the flirtatious looks Solarflare was giving him.  
“You want to know?” the triple-changer asked teasingly “Of course I do, why would I joke about it?” Starscream answered back with a hint of annoyance in his voice.  
“Well...Starscream I...um...” the triple-changer hesitated, with the words sat on his tongue but refusing to slip out “...never mind. You did great catching the Autobot; you should celebrate by drinking out with me and the Trio.” Solarflare suggested as he attempted to hide his very feint blush as the pair of them stopped walking down the corridor, turning to face one another but still refusing to make eye contact “Uh, about that...I’m going on a voyage with Megatron to find more Energon sources today.”  
The instant the Seeker replied in a manner Solarflare didn’t want, the triple-changer bolted his eyes to stare into Starscreams “Will you...be gone long?” he asked with a stutter in his voice. Starscream rubbed his helmet again and shrugged, clicking his neck joint as he became uneasy “I don’t know how long I’ll be gone for, but when I come back I’ll hold you up on your offer.”  
Solarflare would have reached out to hug his cousin, but to prevent him feeling embarrassment in front of the other Decepticons he held back his urges. Instead, he chose to make one simple and seemingly harmless request of Starscream _“Come back for me.”_  
  
 _(End Flashback)_  
  
Solarflares dreaming continued, drifting from the freedom he gained to the confinements he was put under for the crimes he committed. And then when the dreams shifted into what he thought would be the future, he awakened; awakened to find all of his allies in the room doing repair works or nursing the infants.  
Starscream was still glued to the computer working, Soundwave was programming the oxygen tanks for the biology labs, Astrotrain was outside the dome in orbit as a watch, Thundercracker and new recruit Skywarp were playing with the Sparklings and Breakdown was repairing breakages in the walls and piping.  
Solarflare smiled softly as he watched his friends and SparkMates work, purring as he felt his new youngsters beneath him; nestled in his protection. Starscream cheered as something came up on the computer terminal, gaining all in the rooms’ attention “I have it!! I finally have it!” the Seeker shrieked “I have the access codes for the Space Bridge!!”  
Soundwave chuckled before returning to his work, leaving all others in the room listening to further cheering from the Seeker “We have control over it! We can come and go from Cybertron whenever we want! Flare; we can use this against Megatron!” Solarflare smiled at his mate as he further realised what this meant to them and their family, that this would grant them the ability to intercept the Space Bridge and its cargo before anyone else, leaving the Decepticons weaker and seeking guidance.  
However the guidance would not be given, as Megatron had been detected travelling to Cybertron. Unlike them Megatron was restricted by his ego and pathetic sense of pride; the group would wait for the right moment to lure in the Decepticons into defecting against their leader, when they were at their weakest.  
“Well done, Screamer...I’m impressed.” Solarflare purred, nuzzling his bed as he maintained his gaze on his partner. Soundwave finished his work, and patted his Team-Mate on the back “I’m impressed too, Screamer. You were only meant to watch Cybertron, but you found something valuable for us to use. Maybe everything we thought about you before was misplaced.” The Cassette player praised before moving on to work on something else.  
Starscream chuckled and shut down the terminal, approaching his SparkMate and his young to sit beside them once more, stroking his shoulders and back “...did I prove myself now?” he asked, stroking Solarflares helmet “...you always have, dear. You just needed to see it yourself.” He responded, purring under his lovers touch. They were a unit. They were free.  
  
 _They were all part of Solarflares family._


	13. Love Hurts

Have you ever had one of those moments, were you did something you wish you never did? Said words you never wish you said; a moment that you got stuck in, wanting to see where it went, only to regret it later? Solarflare had. Starscream had.   
They’d both started out just friends, relatives, and then the moments they shared together changed from their curiosity and the Hermaphrodites desires. Casual talks in the base lead to dirty jokes, then flirting; a trip to a power plant to steal Energon drifted from stealing to risk taking activities, which would end up becoming quick acts of fusing. It was the little things that wound up triggering the big things, an intermission between each one to prevent being caught. _Caught in the middle of a situation you cannot get out of.  
_ He wanted all his love and all his revenge, all of the things he had on display and his design. He desired his offspring to be exactly the same as his frame, as smart as him and as devious as their mother. Soundwave was extra protection, he was never intended as a partner but Megatron was not desired either; but Soundwave at least was a good choice in comparison to the one who hacked him like a Hellhound, forced him into submission, not caring about the screams of agony he created with his brutal advances.   
Someday Solarflare hoped Megatron would get what was coming to him. Starscream wished the same, which was that Megatrons death would not only release his mate from the mental and physical burdens, but would also grant him the title as Decepticon Leader he so desperately wished for. So whilst the others had little to nothing Solarflare wanted Starscream had everything, and would get everything, when they both felt the time was right. _  
_The group of SparkMates had taken the un-hatched young into the Biosphere to be raised in Earth-like conditions to prepare them for when they are relocated to Earth. So whilst Solarflare kept the young tucked under his frame in an artificial stone bed Starscream was relaxing calmly by a simulated waterfall, watching Soundwave as he checked over the Biospheres oxygen levels and false gravity system.  
“System stability is normal. Unborn young are in a stable condition. Hatched young are healthy but are becoming difficult to contain. No Decepticons sighted near the perimeter, but an Autobot; Cosmos, was sighted scouting the area. We sent Astrotrain to chase him away.” Soundwave informed, checking over the report in his hands before handing it to the nestled Solarflare to inspect.  
 “Excellent report Wave. Now tell me what I wanted to hear.” Solarflare purred, handing the report back to the blue Decepticon. The triple-changer continued to purr as his SparkMate continued to add to the report, ensuring every possible subject was covered “...Megatron has shown no signs of pursuing us.” He informed, slotting the report board into a storage shaft on the wall.   
Starscream muttered to himself as he drifted his fingers through the water he was lying beside, cursing as he managed to catch a live fish from the pond. Soundwave had restored the Biosphere to full operation again, allowing plants and animals to survive in the space station; he had done so much for the Herm, but what had the Seeker done?  
“Good. We want to keep it that way. Screamer, what do you have to report?” Solarflare asked, turning to his other partner. Starscream released the fish he caught, muttering for a moment as he scouted his gaze from Soundwave to his mate “Um...human activity outside is normal?” he answered pathetically, getting to his feet to approach the warm and affectionate looking Triple-Changer. Solarflare narrowed his eyes and tilted up his head, flashing a snooty expression to Starscream preventing him from coming any closer “Anything else?”   
The instant Solarflare asked if there was anything else to report Starscream twitched; he knew he’d forgotten to do something, but what it was slipped his mind. He knew that if he didn’t say anything at all he would never know what he’d forgotten “...no.” Starscream announced, looking away from Solarflare.   
The Triple-Changer sighed and rolled his eyes, not needing to say anything as Soundwave happily stepped in to ask for him “Tsk.Tsk. What about the computer?” the blue Decepticon asked, folding his arms and scouting the Seeker like a hungry predator circling a kill. Starscream shuddered as he felt Soundwave and Solarflares stares cut through him, certain that they would cut him to pieces if he pushed them too much.   
He remembered what happened last time they fought, verbally of course, about duties and tasks he failed to complete; they ganged up on him, hacking him with flaws in his excuses until he finally submitted. Starscream just wished that someday he would push past the failures and actually be successful at something other than planting his produce within Solarflares warm Cybertronian belly, but right now that was all he could boast about “What computer?” he asked, allowing the words to finally come free.  
The groan from Soundwave and heavy sigh from Solarflare forced the Seeker to squint from what he was expecting next “Starscream...the computer terminal we set up to monitor Cybertron with.” Soundwave announced trailing free from his previously uptight movement, shifting into pacing back and forth with a lack of direction; his optics locked on Starscream as he awaited answers “Oh...I haven’t been watching it.” The Seeker responded calmly, flashing a sly smirk as he witnessed Soundwaves growing frustration.   
However the response from his SparkMate was little to be desired “Screamer that was your assigned job; how are we supposed to keep ourselves safe from threats if you don’t watch the computer?!” Solarflare snapped, easing his tension once he felt his weight press against the young beneath him.  
Starscream placed his hands on his hips, casually flashing his frame off to Solarflare to gain a positive reaction “My mind wandered is all, get off my back.” He said in a teasing manner, swaying his hips   
“I wouldn’t be on your back if you just did the job I assigned you to. I’m not being bossy just because it makes me feel good you know; I’m doing it to protect our children.” Solarflare hissed, causing Starscream to retreat backwards as his mate continued to deliver threatening looks to him “I wouldn’t protect that Slimeball Gama from tripping into a sharp object. He’s blight in this ‘family’ and needs to be removed.” Starscream growled, feeling Soundwaves frame press against his back to prevent him from turning to leave the argument.  
“He may belong to Megatron, but he’s still my son. If you lay a hand in harm on him I’ll never accept you again.” Solarflare growled, locking stares with his mate, who shuddered as he felt Soundwaves hands make contact with his shoulders. “You always say that to him. He needs to remember who’s on top in this family chain.” The blue Decepticon smirked, laughing as the Seeker pulled himself free from his grasp with little effort “You’re forgetting that your little power boost won’t dominate me now that I have my own! So a battle would be pointless.” The ex-Decepticon rasped, grasping Soundwaves chassis hard to pull him closer forcing him to his level.   
No matter how close Starscream got to him, no matter how angry the Seeker looked, Soundwave flashed a sly grin and just as easily forced the Seeker into releasing him “And you’re so ignorant to forget that Flare is the dominant one here. If we fight he’ll evict us, and if we protest he can easily cause an ‘accident’ to happen.”  
Starscream snarled as he and Soundwave mentally locked horns, allowing the words “What are you implying?!” to slip through his tightly locked teeth. His opposition maintained his cool, chirping to tease the ex-Decepticon “Just do as Flare says and all will be right within this Sanctuary.” Soundwave informed, flexing his neck and arms as he steadily made his way to a nearby wall to lean against. Solarflare returned a chirp before addressing his response to Starscream, who appeared uneasy “And what I say is this; you’re job is to watch Cybertron. You can return to babysitting once Astrotrain gets Blitzwing on our team again...or Octane.” He informed, watching as the Seeker pouted and effortlessly allowed himself to slide his weight back onto the floor, narrowly avoiding the pond “Do I have to watch the computer right now? I’m really not in any mood to do it.” Starscream groaned, watching as Solarflare licked his lips to him alone, teasing him “No. I asked you both here to report...and play.”  
The final word rang through strongest in Starscreams mind... _‘play’._ Their word, not Soundwaves or Megatrons; it was _theirs_. He read the signs nicely, anticipating the next thing his SparkMate would say, only to have Soundwaves voice break the mood “Playtime...you shouldn’t reward Starscream for not doing his job.” The cassette player mocked, keeping his distance, watching as he took sharp notice of the looks Solarflare was giving the Seeker “Which is why he’s going to be bottom of the pile; I want this dance to be different.” Solarflare informed in a flirtatious tone; right on the head of the nail, as Soundwave expected. Though he addressed both of them to play he knew which one of them he really wanted right now “Who gets to make you create the music though?” Soundwave questioned in a similar tone, shifting his gaze to the now interested Starscream.   
Solarflare licked his lips again and eyed the pair, uttering the words “Both of you. That’s how the game goes” before raising himself from the nest of youngsters, weakly making his way to Starscream as he had lain on the young for several hours without moving “Now Wave, behind me. Screamer, initiate Game Factor four.” Solarflare instructed, looking down at the kneeling Seeker before him “But Flare...” Starscream whined, until feeling Solarflares finger press against his lips “Shhh...Unless you’re willing to admit failure, you could maybe get Number three...”  
Starscream looked up to the Triple-Changer like a kicked animal, muttering softly “I didn’t fail, I just forgot.” Purring as he felt Solarflare trail his finger down from his lips to his crotch, forcing the Seeker to smirk, until Soundwave broke the mood with a quick taunt of “Fail” to his Teammate once again “Shut up, Soundwave.” Starscream hissed as he flashed a glare to Soundwave, who in return contracted his faceplate to hide any traces of him flashing threatening looks to Starscream, which would only cause further aggravation between them “Screamer, you couldn’t watch four Sparklings on all the chances Flare gave you without at least one running off and causing trouble. You couldn’t even gather enough Energon for him whilst he was still carrying, and now you can’t seem to even check a computer. What’s gotten into your circuitry to cause this mess? It’s not like you.”  
Starscream furrowed his brow as he shifted his stare from Solarflare to Soundwave, rolling his eyes to show he was not at all amused “I’m just...itching to deal with Megatron...among other things on my mind. It’s difficult.” He answered, stroking his partner’s abdomen lovingly only to have his hand tightly grasped by said partner.   
“Wave has the same problems, but he tries to not let it take control of his jobs. You should take pointers from him sometime...now get into positions before I lose my mood.” Solarflare said softly, trying to haul Starscream up by his hold on his hands only to fail from the weight difference. Soundwave thought for a moment as he watched the Herm struggle to lift the lazy looking Starscream, snapping his fingers once he remembered he had something to give Solarflare the strength he was lacking “Wait a minute Flare, I captured a Humanoid for you.” He informed, approaching a locked box containing the creature “How thoughtful of you Wave; a present to butter me up.” The Triple-Changing Herm chirped, licking his lips as he released Starscream to approach Soundwave and obtain his ‘treat’.  
The ex-Decepticon rolled onto his belly before getting up, watching as his SparkMate was teased by Soundwave into being given the humanoid, who was still alive “...I could have caught a better one.” Starscream muttered coldly as Solarflare received the Humanoid and immediately began crushing the life out of it; the screams from the captive along with the cracking of its bones sent shivers down both SparkMates spines, with Soundwave registering them in a positive manner whilst Starscream couldn’t help but cringe at them, groaning as his mate finally ended the creatures suffering and consumed it without delay.   
  
“That was just what I needed...and he had a nice aftertaste.” Solarflare purred, sucking on his fingers which again caused both positive and negative reactions from Starscream and Soundwave; the consumption was disgusting, but the teasing mannerisms of sucking on his fingers and thumb sent their Fusion Cavities into a tingling frenzy “Okay Wave, here is your reward...Screamer, Number Four.” Solarflare instructed, waving Starscream to the pair. The Seeker attempted to protest with a pitiful “But—” only for his SparkMate to lower his tone “Number Four, then I’ll let you do Number Three when we play together.”  
Starscream lowered his head and groaned, strolling over to Soundwave before getting onto his knees preparing to initiate the orders he was given, when the blue Decepticon effortlessly pushed the Seeker away from him “Flare I don’t need it. I could be looking after the young.” Soundwave informed as he trailed free from both jets towards the airlock, forcing Starscream to slip a sly smirk “Are you backing out? That means more fun for me you know.” He teased, sliding his hands towards Solarflares hips before pulling him in close and licking his abdomen.   
Soundwave hissed as he watched the duo “I might as well; someone has to be a good father.” The blue Decepticon growled, pressing the switch for the Airlock Doors to open “Why you—” the Seeker hissed, getting to his feet to chase after Soundwave “Let him go Screamer. We can have fun together.” Solarflare requested, grasping onto the Seeker shoulders to drag him back to him as Soundwave finally left the Biosphere, leaving the two jets alone together.  
Starscream turned to face the Triple-Changer, his hands on his hips, eyeing his frame like a hawk over its prey. He continued his scouting behaviour; circling Solarflare slowly, caressing the Herms cheeks and arms as he continued around him “...alone at last, just like old times...” the Seeker purred finally stopping his orbiting in front of the shorter Decepticon “And like old times, you’re more interested in the ‘upload’ rather than the foreplay...” Solarflare chuckled, removing his wings and displaying his abdomen to Starscream “Foreplay is fun, but I’m more interested in what I saw downstairs...” the Seeker exhaled as he slapped his hand firmly against his SparkMates crotch.   
“S-Screamer! You saw---!?” Solarflare gasped as the Seekers fingers began searching, or in the Triple-Changers eyes, hunting for something in his nether region. His eyes remained locked in a somewhat hypnotic stare with his shorter partner, licking his lips as his search triggered the Herm into releasing a soft moan “Oh I have...and I like what I see...” Starscream purred grasping onto Solarflares left thigh before pulling it up, forcing the Herms crotch to be exposed; revealing a second port to his Fusion Cavity just above his rear thrusters “Screamer why didn’t you say something??” Solarflare asked, holding back a moan as the Seeker continued to tease him and his port.   
Starscream didn’t respond to the question, and instead continued to scout his partner “Untaken...I’m starting to like this even more...” he chuckled, gently stroking his captives port “But Screamer—that way isn’t suitable—” Solarflare began only to be cut short by feeling his partner slam his exposed crotch onto his own “I made some...modifications...when I helped restore Astrotrain and Thundercrackers Fusion Cavities, to match what I suspected in my sights, so this way is suitable...but isn’t very efficient.” He responded, smirking as he continued to tease his captives’ second port with his fingers, exhaling as he felt Solarflare tremble in his arms from the touch “...at least, it is more effective in some ways more than others...” the Seeker chuckled; moaning as he pressed one of his fingers against the tightly shut port, breaking Solarflares membrane slowly with the mounting pressure.  
 The Triple-Changer gasped from the invasion and grasped Starscreams arm, tightly squeezing him as the Seeker continued his advancement “Let me break you first, that way it won’t hurt quite as much.” Starscream purred finally forcing his finger into the port, triggering Solarflare to scream in agony and shiver as his inner sinus tubes made contact with the intruder.   
The Triple-Changer screamed for Primus as his partner continued to ‘break’ into him; Starscream tried to restrain his mate as best he could, tightly holding onto the Herm preventing him from escaping, as the breakage was necessary for his own good. If he used the port without doing this first Solarflare would have been in even more pain, so the Seeker continued with the process; grunting as he felt the membrane within attempt to repair itself with every invasion, he’d have to take the port quickly after breaking it to reduce the pain in Solarflare “A second port for play when you’re carrying, pure genius. Your creator must have wanted you to have fun with your mates no matter your condition...” Starscream exhaled as he removed his invading finger, only to slam his partner against the wall and raise him to rest on his crotch.   
Solarflare tightly shut his eyes, gasping as he felt something open in Starscreams crotch and eject into his lower port. The Seeker moaned as the device slipped into the tight port and wriggled its way deep inside, groaning as he grasped Solarflares other leg and raised that up also; holding the Herm by his legs and using the wall to support his weight.   
Starscream pushed his tool as deep as he could, causing Solarflare to arch his head back and release an immeasurable scream of agony; his hands clawing the wall behind him as he felt the hose penetrate the remains of his inner membrane preventing it from repairing itself, it was going to remain open whether it liked it or not _“You’re a bit tight, dear, let’s loosen you up a little.”_ Starscream whispered, licking his mates’ cheek before thrusting his hips into the frame of his captive; forcing his hose in and out of the tight port.   
And with every push within him Solarflare cried in agony, but never once requested the Seeker to stop, for he felt Starscream caressing him to reassure him that the pain was from the tight nature of his port; a sign of it never being used.  
Starscream moaned as he increased his speed, nearly slamming Solarflare against the wall with every push, releasing a shrill gasp as his hose finally collided with Solarflares Cybertronian cervix. The ex-Decepticon exhaled, swallowing the desire to salivate and regained his composure, before resuming with the thrusting. Solarflare clung to the wall as if his life depended on it as he felt his mates’ tool inside of him grind against his ports innards, wearing away the membrane which kept it tightly shut all this time with each push.   
_Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.  
Pant. Pant.  
_  
The Seeker shook his head franticly as he attempted to fight the natural programming of Fusion Lock, determined to take his partner consciously rather than instinctively like the previous times; but the mounting pressure within his hose holding back its content, throbbing and pulsing with his racing Spark, was making self control difficult. He wanted to slam his mate onto his hands and knees, interface with him from behind for maximum efficiency, but that was all his instinctive drive to produce offspring. This act however was not to get more offspring from the Herm; it was an act of love, a display of his power and speed. The pain was only a result of Solarflares ‘neglected lower port’ never being used, and Starscream was certain that after a few uses it would become a totally painless procedure.  
 _Inhale. Exhale. Repeat.  
_ Solarflare felt his frame be lowered to the ground, his legs still held up with his knees in line with his chest, and Starscream somewhat brutally thrusting within him as hard and as fast as his body could handle. The Seekers cheeks flushed pink, moaning in satisfaction, as Solarflares port contracted around his hose and helped swell his building load _“Oh Primus—”_ Starscream laughed, leaning closer to his catch to lick his cheeks _“You’re so tight...*gasp* it’s as if you don’t want me to stop...”_ Starscream whispered, continuing his teasing and thrusting with seemingly limitless energy. Solarflares legs twitched with the advancement, heavy moans releasing from his mouth as he felt each push within him; his male interface unit tingling from the arousal of his lower female unit, forcing a blush across his cheeks and his own hose to eject, colliding with Starscreams abdomen and scouting for its own entrance “...no playtime for you yet, dear.” Starscream purred, feeling his mates hose franticly searching for entry; instead it collided with the Seekers main Fusion Cavity doors repeatedly, forcing said Seeker to lose focus as his doors were teased resulting in him entering Fusion Lock for a very brief period until the harsh agonising screams from Solarflaresnapped him out of it.  
Solarflare retreated his male tool once Starscream took a moment to regain his focus, panting as he felt his tool throb within the tight walls of his mates port _“—you’re making me lose self control, if we’re--*grunt*--if we’re not careful I might fuck you harder...”_ he warned, grunting as he resumed the thrusting and thereby resumed Solarflares pained moans; the screaming stopped from the Triple-Changer, but his ‘feedback’ was still sounding painful, and Starscream knew that if he wasn’t careful in his advancements he’d overload his partner.   
And the last thing he wanted was to become the Hellhound to a normally submissive and feminine Herm, who disliked being the one on top, but that’s what overloading does to females...it makes them change.  
  
The Seeker raised his lover upright and lowered his own frame to lie on his back, allowing the Herm to sit on him and give his legs room to spread (or escape if he couldn’t take it anymore). Solarflare stared down at his SparkMate panting, stroking his hands up and down the ex-Decepticons torso as they both recuperated, not speaking to one another or making eye contact; it was as if both of them didn’t want to see the disappointment of the other, as neither had tried mating this way before and had no idea if what they just did was satisfying to their partner.   
The Triple-Changer exhaled and closed his eyes, releasing a weak but soft moan as he tested the new port a bit more by gently thrusting himself against Starscreams crotch, his fingers digging into the Seekers chassis as he pushed himself up and down.  
Starscream slipped a sly smirk as he observed his lover become entranced in what he was doing; laying back for Solarflare to do as much of the work as he wanted, take it at the speed he wanted and at the force he could handle. It showed that his port indeed was adjusting to usage, as the slow and steady movement quickly changed to faster and harder self-thrusting, and not a trace of pain was being heard “Enjoying yourself now, Flare?” Starscream teased, placing his hands onto the Decepticon Scientists hips “You’re having all the fun from this you know; I don’t feel anything.” The Triple-Changer shivered as he felt his inner port tighten again and released a sharp hiss through his teeth as he finished a final thrust “I---was---!” Solarflare hissed, grasping onto one of Starscreams arms “This isn’t---working---!”  
The Seeker beneath him rolled his eyes and sat upright, wrapping his arms around the Triple-Changer but keeping him sat on his crotch “It is working; you just need a little ‘wear and tear’ is all.” He chuckled, stroking his SparkMates helmet lovingly “We can try another position if you want?” he asked softly, feeling the Herm in his arms shiver from the still invading tool “A-anything---just make it work--!” Solarflare groaned, gritting his teeth together again as he felt Starscream rotate his frame with the hose still inside of him, finding himself on his hands and knees with his legs spread apart “Alright, but if I enter Fusion Lock it’s your job to make me dismount.” The Seeker informed, leaning down to whisper to his partner _“get ready to have your mind blown away...”  
_  
Both SparkMates remained silent for a moment to gather their thoughts and breathing, before Starscream tightly clenched Solarflares hips and mounted him; thrusting rapidly as if expecting an unwanted visitor any minute, much like in the old days when it was just them and Megatron.   
The Seeker would mount his SparkMate and attempt to plant quickly before fleeing, and then return when the coast was clear to do it again. It was these short bursts that caused the sexual frustration Starscream had to deal with for many months, being able to plant but not gain any satisfaction from the interaction, resulting in him Fraging-Off frequently. It didn’t help Solarflare either; it left him feeling like he didn’t satisfy his partners needs, and not even he gained much satisfaction from the ‘speed mating’ his dear Starscream had to engage in with him.   
But did Solarflare Frag-Off because of it? Most certainly, he just made sure no one knew about it.  
Solarflare groaned as the larger male forced his hose faster into him, standing with one of his legs, thereby kneeling on just the one and allowing him to thrust much harder. The pushes seemed to get faster and harder with every pulse from their Sparks, but Starscream had yet to even offload his content.   
When that happened the real test will be exposed; would it hurt either of them or would it ease the pain? Solarflare suckered up the strength to endure the pain so far, but if it was still unchanged after Starscream gave him his produce then he’d have to force a dismount and that was something he never wanted to do.  
The Triple-Changer gasped as Starscream lifted his left leg to better expose his port, twisting and churning within him as if mixing a brew with his hose. The Seeker groaned and steadily rose upright as his efforts started to take effect; releasing his hold on Solarflares leg he could feel the ‘test’ swiftly coming, the feeling of his partner under him tensing from the swollen hose. The Triple-Changer moaned violently as Starscream returned to his aggressive thrusting, easing his grip on the floor, he was ready for that final push. The release.  
As Solarflare remained submissive, waiting to receive the burden from his SparkMate, Starscream pressed on to fuel out his built up content; but there was a problem.   
“S-Screamer...I can’t...take...” Solarflare announced pathetically, not noticing a slither of Energon Drool slip from his mouth “What do you mean you ‘can’t take’? Do you want me to stop?” Starscream groaned, continuing with his thrusting anyway “I can’t...*gasp* carry yet. My Cavity is...*gasp* not full...*pant* *Pant*...enough.”  
  
Starscream pouted, ceasing his thrusting as he pondered over what his mate was trying to tell him granting the Triple-Changer time to regain his breath. Finally the reality hit the Seeker, as did his response “...I’m doing this for love, not children.”  
Solarflare twitched as his mate remained silent after telling him clean that the mating wasn’t to produce more offspring for a change; here he was, seeking Starscreams produce to create young with, but was receiving more...love, protection, a life partner. Soundwave seemed to lose interest in frequent flirting or fusing with him (as he liked to call it) shortly after his youngsters began to gain their colour; he was a father figure alright, but was not at all interested in obtaining anymore children. In the blue Decepticons eyes he had done his job of protecting the Decepticons precious Breeder, and as an added bonus he gained offspring and someone to talk to.   
But Solarflare, unable to admit being a Breeder at times, had to have a life partner who would satisfy his need to produce young or to be mated (or fused) with when he wanted it. Soundwave showing no interest in either now he had his sons to think about was no longer a suitable candidate. As for Megatron; he would do both the things required for the position, most likely with the best efficiency, but the Triple-Changer didn’t want him. He hated him too much to ever stand having him as his life partner.  
  
The silence drifted on, as did the stalemate in what to do next; Solarflare had two choices to make, both with positive outcomes and negative ones. He could allow Starscream to continue, which would result in no chance of conception leaving him feeling a need to conceive even more in later months, with the positive outlook being the emotional side of the interactions. Or he could tell him to stop, allowing them to express their love differently but having wasted all the effort in ‘breaking’ his untaken port.   
The male in question remained in silence, not even twitching a limb to trigger further stimulation, and awaited his SparkMates response “Screamer...” Solarflare said softly, catching said Seekers attention “...what is it Flare?” the Triple-Changer raised one of his arms to wipe the salivated Energon from his chin, slamming his hand back to the floor once the weight of his partner began to take its toll “...keep going, I want the port to bring me no pain in the future” he addressed, sensing the grin form on his partner who was pleased with the decision “...but be quick. I might decide to turn the tables on you.” He grinned back, chuckling softly until his future patriarch resumed his duty, thereby resuming the Herms gasping and moaning.  
Because the pair had already worked up to a close end of the session it wasn’t long before Starscream finally ejected his content, relieved to hear Solarflares pain subside as his own burden within him left. Wear and tear he called it, more like a beating of the innards from one perspective...but no matter what it was called, be it mating or fusing, this method was indeed painful for the first few uses.   
It would probably take another two times before the pain started to be exchanged with more desirable feelings, granted they had the time to engage in such activities.  
Solarflare grunted as Starscream held tightly onto his hips, keeping them both as still as possible whilst he offloaded every drop of his solder, denying his partner from trying to escape _“I know you can’t conceive now but I’m not wasting any of this. You’re taking it all.”_ Starscream whispered, thrusting out the remnants of the session ensuring his entire load had been expended, before releasing his captive.  
The instant Solarflare was released he clawed himself free from the Seeker, not even granting him time to dismount “Geez Flare, you’re so impatient...” Starscream whined with a pout, until being tackled onto the ground by his SparkMate who proceeded to stare him quite bitterly in the eyes. The moment their optics made contact Starscream mentally shrank under the glares he was given, whilst Solarflare felt in control.   
The main difference between the mating and ‘fusing’ they did in the old days compared to today was that they used their Uplink Cables, granting Starscream dominance and leaving Solarflare totally submissive. They only stopped using the cables to see just how passionate they could be without connecting together that way “You know something Screamer, I hope my port does loosen...because if it doesn’t I’m going to try loosening your rear thrusters, and my hose isn’t as gentle as Waves tentacles.” Solarflare warned “Stop trying to frighten me, it never works.” Starscream mocked, not noticing Solarflare ejecting his male unit and allowing it to once again aimlessly ram into the Seekers frame seeking an entry “Screamer; I produce four point five litres of solder with every push, you only produce three point one litres every four to six pushes. My build up tank can hold nearly eight gallons before I have to get rid of it whilst yours can hold twenty; that means after just nine pushes I’d fill you up, whilst you take so much longer to fill your own build-up tank.” The Decepticon Scientist rambled, causing Starscream to furrow his brow and pout at his mate “What are you implying?”  
Solarflare chuckled as his partner continued to flash one of his ‘bratty’ expressions, clearly knowing what the Triple-Changer was talking about but pretending he didn’t understand “it means, Screamer, that if you where in my position and I was in yours we wouldn’t have this problem.” He responded, purring as he lowered his frame allowing his tool easy access to the Seekers rear thrusters.   
  
“W-wait Flare...I thought you didn’t like being on top this way?!” Starscream cringed, struggling to get up as his SparkMate tried with all his might to keep him pinned “I usually don’t, but you wouldn’t let me go when I felt I’d taken enough. I’m going to do the same to you to see how you like it.” He mocked, slapping Starscreams thigh teasingly “now be a good boy and show me the ‘backdoor’.” He added with a chuckle.  
Starscream reluctantly raised his knees but refused to open his legs all the way “You’re going to make this very difficult if you don’t cooperate, sweetheart.” Solarflare purred, sliding his hands to both of the Seekers thighs “I’d hate to have to hack you, so be good and we can call it even.” The Triple-Changer winked, using his arms to slowly open up his partners’ legs exposing his rear thrusters “You can’t hold me like that and interface with me at the same time. This is laughable.” Starscream mocked until feeling Solarflare lift his lower body up by the legs and firmly slam him onto his crotch, a sweat of panic slipping from the Seekers brow as he felt the Triple-Changer open his male cavity doors “Not laughing now though, are you?” Solarflare began, licking his lips “...nine pushes is all it will take, in theory, to make you _my_ bitch.” Solarflare chuckled, quickly ejecting his hose into his captives’ thrusters.  
The instant the hose entered Starscreams body, the instant he felt the difference between each sex Solarflare had; his mainframe was feminine with a hint of male, easy to get along with and not at all threatening in appearance but at the same time capable of defending himself from Autobots.   
But once the female chemicals bubbled in him he became frail and pitiful, seeking protection almost every second of the day. Starscream loved those two frames, the ones he could dominate, but his male frame was frightening.   
Once those chemicals churned you saw the reason why he was recruited as a Decepticon; he was aggressive, dominating and had a horrific bite in the forms of his seemingly unstoppable weapons (namely his Super Nova Ray). It was fortunate then that the male chemicals rarely surfaced, and by rare it meant only when he became furious or territorial.   
Why the male burst now? Most likely he became fed up with Starscream exploiting him, thinking he can take everything without penalty. So his male side had another use it would seem; punishment.  
Starscream groaned as he felt Solarflares hose slide into his thrusters, leaving his piping feeling itchy from the barbs of his hose scratching the inner walls, and the fact his partner counted every push to see if his theory was correct made the ex-Decepticon angry enough to snarl from the dominance.   
His ‘bitch’, his ‘girl’, was by no means something to be trifled with. If Megatron were not so big, perhaps Solarflare would have bitten back at the Decepticon Leader himself for all the times he hacked him.   
Right now though Starscream couldn’t help but grunt and groan with every push his mate gave to him; a slow and gentle thrust, as if savouring every minute.   
_Three. Out. Four. Out. Five.  
_ Solarflare continued his counting, not displaying any signs of arousal, but Starscream felt the tool within him twitch and swell from what was to come.   
_Six. Out. Seven. Out.  
_ The moment Starscream was dreading came ever closer, as did Solarflares anticipation, for he wanted to see how the Seeker felt in his position for once. How he reacted to being dominated and forced into taking something he didn’t want.   
_Eight. Out._   
Solarflares cheeks slowly began to flush with a pink hue, his eyes struggling to keep open as did his attempts to prevent himself from moaning. The Seeker shut his eyes also and tensed, preparing himself for what he was about to receive.   
_Nine._  
  
Nothing. Not even a slither of his produce. Solarflare had stopped thrusting and released Starscream on the ninth push and had rushed to a wall to frag-off his build up “I...I couldn’t do it...” the Triple-Changer whined pathetically, ejecting his solder and bypass fuel against the wall, moaning as he forced out every drop “I’m sorry Screamer, I...I won’t do that ever again...”   
Starscream exhaled after hearing his mate speak, realising he was free, and sighed with relief when he discovered Solarflare had not offloaded inside of him. However he knew now what it felt like to be mounted when he didn’t want or expect it, but his SparkMates display by no means would be left without a punishment of his own.  
“You won’t do it again? Is that you talking or the ticking liar that you try to hide so badly?” Starscream growled, getting to his feet and rushing to the still fraging-off Herm. Solarflare gasped as he felt the larger jets frame slam into his back, his hands scouting for targets like a frantic hellhound sniffing out its prey “You know I love it when you fight back, but seriously, what you just did begs for punishment...and this will hurt.” The Seeker informed bitterly, lifting one of Solarflares legs to once again expose his lower female port, but he wasn’t going to break his mate this time; he was not going to be gentle in this advancement to the Triple-Changer.  
The ex-Decepticon groaned as he ejected his hose into his partner once more, forcing Solarflare into focusing on his balance and supporting both his weight and his mates against the wall rather than escaping or fighting back, and at the same time forcing him to take in as much of his tool as he could handle.   
  
Solarflare attempted to shake Starscream from his back only to receive a painful bite to the back of his neck, causing the herm to scream in agony. A whine of pain drifted from the Decepticon Scientists mouth as Starscream pushed and shoved his hose in and out of his tight port, stretching him thin with every scream, push and the gripping bite from the Seekers fangs and frame.   
For a moment Solarflare felt like he was being used by Megatron, being dominated without a care over if he was in pain or not, and attempted to hold back his fearful cries for help from a partner that was actually the one mounting him.  
Solarflare shrieked as he once again attempted to escape, only to be pulled back into a tighter grip and gain another painful bite to his neck. He was frail, crying out in agony as his supposed favourite mate became so ruthless in his advancement, changing the love-related session into an imbalanced punishment cycle “You’re---*moan* such a jerk!!” Solarflare rasped; clinging to the wall as his mate pushed harder as if punishing him for speaking “I hate you!!” the Triple-Changer screamed, hearing as Starscream chuckled as he nibbled his catch.   
Said Seeker then switched from the nibbles to a very forced bite, followed quickly by more violent thrusting until he felt ready for a breather “You know you love it.” Starscream chuckled, keeping his catch firmly grasped “No, you’re a jerk! I hate you and what you’re doing to me!!” Solarflare snapped back, turning to glance back at his captor only for both of their lips to meet in a passionate kiss.   
The moment their kiss ended they behaved as if no argument just happened, until Starscream muttered the words “Will you be a good boy now?” to his prisoner “In your dreams, Screamer. You’ll just have to keep punishing me.” Solarflare chuckled, moaning as his partner indeed continued the punishment process.  
“You’re loosening up a bit; we might actually have progress here.” Starscream laughed as he adjusted his position and raised the Triple-Changers leg higher, forcing Solarflare back into his screaming in agony. The Seeker groaned as he began to overload, ready to end this round of punishment, when Soundwave rushed through the Airlock doors in a panic thereby disturbing the couple.  
The blue Decepticon retracted his faceplate to speak, regaining his breath as the two jets remained static in their fusing position; watching to see what Soundwave would say or do when he could focus on them both.   
It seemed that when it came to it, Soundwave wasn’t at all bothered or interested in what just happened, but was more so concerned about what he just found out about from Thundercrackers spying back on Earth “Flare! It’s...it’s the young!” Soundwave began in a panic, causing the Triple-Changers eyes to widen the moment his sons were mentioned “Shockwave! He...he broke in whilst Thundercracker was returning from Earth and--!”   
Solarflare pushed Starscreams frame from his own, moaning as the tool finally left his port, before rushing to Soundwave and grasping his arms “Don’t tell me he killed them!! Please don’t!!” the Triple-Changer cried franticly, not taking any notice of Starscream whining about being pushed over so effortlessly or his complaining about Soundwaves disturbance.  
The blue Decepticon lowered his head and pulled himself free from the Herms grasp, twitching in rage once he got far away enough “...he’s taking them to Megatron.”


	14. A Chance Meeting

_Megatron; the tyrannous Leader of the Decepticons. He was the iron fist of Cybertronian history, an icon of power and ruthlessness for all young Decepticons to admire and worship; he was Solarflare and his young’s worst nightmare.  
_ Shockwave made sure he dispatched the four youths quickly to his master, as the return across the spacebridge had left the monster hungry for some violence and fear striking. The young would be left alive, as he was certain Solarflare would never cooperate if they were slaughtered, and threatening to kill them would prove more effective in controlling the Herm to do as he instructed. But Megatron himself would not be initiating the disciplinary acts upon the Triple-Changer, especially not in such a restricted space as the Decepticon Base; that was Shockwaves job and his alone.  
“Four males, Lord Megatron.” Shockwave announced, nudging the youngsters closer to the giant with his foot, forcing them to kneel down before the seated Leader. Megatron rubbed his chin deviously as he examined the youngsters from his seat, getting to his feet to get a closer look at them one by one starting first with Alpha; Soundwaves blue twin son.  
  
The youth held back his fear as the giant effortlessly grasped him by the back and lifted him up, contracting his faceplate in an effort to protect himself should he be attacked “Most impressive, I can see the resemblance.” Megatron chuckled, tapping the youngsters faceplate as if teasing him “They may be of use to us in the future should their tempers be acceptable.” He added, releasing Alpha from his grasp without lowering him closer to the floor, causing the youth to stumble onto his back and curse in Cybertronian.  
Megatron moved onto Beta, examining him quickly as he was identical to Alpha with the exception of their colour, but when it came to the next youngster Enigma things looked dangerous “My lord, I do not suggest you try handling this one. He has, how to put it, quiet the bite. It is just a suggestion however.” Shockwave announced as the tyrant prepared to grasp the somewhat rabid-looking Enigma, only to pull back the second the youths disturbing nature was shown in a quick draw of his black axe.   
“Note this down Shockwave; this youngster is likely defective and should be terminated if tests prove it. The tests will be done once we deal with the mother.” Megatron informed, looking to Shockwave who nodded and announced he would make it priority once Solarflare had been dealt with.  
The next youngster to be examined was Gama; Megatrons only surviving offspring. The youth showed no forms of resistance or fear as he was effortlessly grasped and hauled up by his father (not knowing he’s his father of course) to eye level, allowing the Leader to inspect him to the closest detail.   
The Decepticon giant took sharp interest in the youths weaponry the most; the cannon on his back, the gun on his arm and the cold soul-piercing stare. For a moment the tyrant remained silent and watched to see what the youth would do as a reaction to being held and looked at so strangely, but there was no twitch of fear, not even a blink.   
  
Megatron smirked as he approached his seat again with the youth still in his hands, perking even Shockwaves curiosity “My lord, is this--?” the guardian asked, receiving a chuckle from the Leader as his first response “Yes Shockwave, this is _my offspring_.” Megatron replied, sitting on the seat and resting a now shocked looking Gama on his lap “State your name young Decepticon.”  
Gama lowered his head, thinking over the stories he was told about his father by both of his step-fathers and babysitters, and the many names they gave him; monster, tyrant, killer, hacker, butcher, demon, devil...these were just a few of the names he heard them say. But two of the names he heard Starscream and Solarflare use were only ever registered as real to him, and that was Megatron and ‘Leader’.   
The stories did frighten him a little, but at the same time he couldn’t help but imagine his manufacturer as a strong undyingly powerful leader. He wanted to meet him and ask him all sorts of questions, but now that he was sat on his lap the words struggled to roll out of his vocal processor; just like Megatron’s patience struggled to deal with the youth’s silence.  
The tyrant tapped his fingers on the arm rests of his seat, looking down impatiently at Gama awaiting an answer, catching said youths attention to meekly look up at his towering frame “I...I’m Gama.” He answered at last, earning a grin from the giant Decepticon Leader “Well Gama, do you know who I am?” he asked teasingly, a shimmer of Decepticon deviance in his eyes.   
“I...don’t know.” The youngster answered, meekly allowing his answer to continue “But I’m guessing...Megatron?”  
Megatron chuckled with a smirk, flashing a glance to Shockwave and the other three youngsters “Shockwave, take those three to meet their future comrades and bait our Breeder here. This one stays with me.”  
Shockwave nodded a bow to his Leader, before escorting the three Soundwave youths from the room, leaving Megatron with his son Gama.   
Alone.   
  
Two cold and ruthless beings, father and son, united for the first time; just the thought sent Solarflare into a fit of fear over what would happen should Gama take up under Megatrons wing, having to run from not only his undesired partner but also his own son was something he well and truly did not want to do.  
Megatron chuckled once the room was emptied of all other presences, shifting down a smirk to the somewhat stoic Gama “I can see Soundwave taught you a few things in my absence” he began, glancing to the youth before reaching over his seat to obtain his Fusion Cannon “the coldness in your eyes; unreadable, unpredictable. A way to hide your cunning and glorious mind, which I am sure, is riddled with questions.” Megatron attached his Cannon to his arm, displaying it to the child sat quietly on his lap “Questions I will answer; that I will explain in any way you wish. You’re my blood, the next in line for Decepticon Leadership, so you deserve no less than the truth.”  
Gama tilted his head as he examined his father’s giant cannon in awe; he was fascinated by the size of the weapon, but was more so intrigued by the damage said weapon could cause from what he imagined.   
The youth meekly touched the weapon and began comparing his own miniature cannon with his fathers, growing more confident with each examination but once again being filled with more questions. The tyrant chuckled before asking the youth to ask anything he wished, and that he’d tell him the truth with full confidence.  
Gama hesitates, glancing up to his father and then to his feet, meekly flashing a smile “...so you’re my father?” he asked, sounding pleased with himself. Megatron chuckled as the youth continued to show eagerness in awaiting the reply, as if caring about nothing else but hearing what he wanted “That is correct.” Megatron answered, nodding to the Sparkling and granting the youth a chance to ask more; the questions growing more complicated each time, with Gama displaying his extremely wide vocabulary.   
“And I was supposed to have siblings in numerous quantities to compete against for the title as your successor?” Gama asked in confidence to his father, who in return nodded again as a response “Such a magnificent vocabulary, you must have obtained it from me. Your mother never could talk her way out of anything, not even a paper bag. As for your question; yes, you would have had a significantly large amount of siblings...all as glorious as you, but only one of you would truly become my successor.”  
  
The youth growled bitterly at the answer he received, tilting his head and furrowing his brow as he stared deeply into the cold eyes of his father “So why don’t I have them? Why do I have defective half-bloods as my brothers instead?!” Gama snapped, shifting on Megatrons lap, not noticing his father’s stare grow ever bitterer.   
Though Megatron was impressed by the youth he had been given from Solarflare, there was a handful of problems or issues he saw within the Sparkling. He was powerful in spirit, that was a fact, but he showed a brat-based integrity and a habit of luring others into taking the blame for his own mistakes. These were a few of the things Megatron would have to correct later “Fate would have it that Soundwave desired your mother, and managed to outwit me in a moment of weakness that shall never happen again.” Megatron answered, before looking away from his son in irritation “Now ask something else.”  
Gama lowered his stare and began fidgeting with his hands and feet, causing Megatron to watch him again to read more of the Sparklings traits and habits through body language whilst also awaiting said child’s question. “Soundwave said you abused Mother...is it true?” Gama asked, sniffling from the damp conditions of the Nemesis; in comparison to the dry conditions of the N.E.S.T he was use to, the Nemesis was cold and very wet.   
Even sat on his father’s lap the Sparkling felt the chills, which was a little unsettling to him “Negative; she didn’t do as she was told, so I punished her. Is punishing her incompetence and ignorance considered abusive when it is the only way she’ll learn? No. She will learn to accept what she is, and what her creator built her for in the first place, when I can resume disciplining her.” Megatron answered, placing a hand onto his sons’ helmet in reassurance.   
Said youth shivered from the touch and chirped, quickly slapping his hands across his mouth to hide the weakness that is infanthood, which sparked Megatrons curiosity once again; however before the leader could say or do anything else, Gama squeaked out another question “F-father...Mother said...I was an accident...and Starscream said you hacked her...” A bitter thought again, was there nothing positive in this young Cybertronian?   
  
Was there truly nothing showing the traits of a youth?   
  
Megatron huffed and proceeded to pat Gama’s head “An accident? Your own Mother said this to you? You are the proof that my RNA is superior, even when swarmed against all odds of Soundwaves efforts you survived the battle within...Starscreams slaughter and his own attempts to override you and your brothers proves it further. You are no accident; you are proof of greatness. It’s your other brothers who were the accident.” Megatron answered boldly, not showing a shred of emotion “...and the hacking thing?” Gama asked again, narrowing his eyes as he began to believe his father was trying to avoid answering something.   
“Your Mother is a Breeding Unit; it’s her primary function to submit to her partners, the ones her creator chose for her, not whomever she desired. Your Mother was made to create you; I was meant to be her only partner. Soundwave and Starscream ruined everything, and twisted her circuits. So I never hacked her, it was those two blundering fools who did the hacking.”  
The answers he received were acceptable, but did not answer everything he had asked about.   
Gama jumped from his father’s lap and began throwing a tantrum, much to the Decepticon Leaders great disliking, but allowing his son to rant gave him the chance to see the state of his mentality “Then why didn’t you hunt them down and kill them...why didn’t you try shielding me from all of their lies and cruelty!? You left me with them for so long, many months of listening to them ramble on and fight, it made me feel sick! I got so fed up of them I resorted to wandering the streets and sewers, picking out scrap metal with my brothers to survive whilst my mother laid in agony, all because of HIM. If I was bigger I’d have fought them myself, but life is cruel; the stories Soundwave told me, the threats Starscream threw at me, the cries in agony from mother...all of those things filled me with a burning rage, a desire to kill and destroy. Why didn’t you save me from this feeling? Did you not even know I existed, or did it amuse you to see me suffer? Regardless of your answer I still yearn to see Starscream bleed to death for not only threatening me and treating me like trash, but because he caused Mother so much pain. Her pain is mine, which is why I express concern over what you will do to her and my brothers when she arrives to recover us.” Gama ranted, kicking and screaming at objects around him without even noticing the horrifically cold stares Megatron was giving him.   
  
“Gama you speak in a frantic manner as if you don’t know what it is you are after. If you are to lead the Decepticons you must fix your sights on a goal, not run around in circles complaining like a halfwit!”  
Gama lowered his head, as if accepting the lecture from his father “What did you expect with me having to live under Starscream?” he muttered, sniffling once again from the cold “Again you bring up that filthy Razor snake...” Megatron groaned, getting from his seat to approach the youngster, only for said youth to rush into a corner angrily “I want to see him crash and burn; I want to see all his young crushed, every trace of him erased from existence. Is that clear enough to you?”  
Megatron stood watching his son continue to rant, listening and observing in silence as the picture slowly became clear to him; Gama was a special Sparkling with special needs and desires “You express concern for your mother and brothers, and a very large desire to see Starscream destroyed.” The tyrant announced, returning to his seat and watching as Gama turned to face him, displaying confidence.   
“That’s right.” He answered boldly.   
“Then why not use those two things as your goals in life? It would be your first step in your training.” Megatron announced, tapping the armrest of his seat as if enticing Gama to come closer again “Protect Mother; Destroy Starscream. Sounds simple enough but it’s actually more complicated than you think, father.” He replied, slowly making his way from the corner to his father’s seat again “Explain the problem to me young Gama. I wish to hear your intellect spark.” Megatron requested, picking up his son who squeaked in surprise before setting him on his lap again.  
Gama pauses for a moment, as if calculating something, before making his reply “The problem lies in my Mother; she is as clingy to that plane like a leech to a supply of blood. Wherever she was, Starscream wasn’t too far away.” Megatron narrowed his eyes, showing interest, before nodding to the Sparkling “Go on.”  
“There were times I managed to sway Mothers feelings for Starscream, back when she was weak when carrying his junk for children, and I even came close into convincing her to give him the boot along with his young...but I saw something in her optics the moment I suggested she terminate the young inside of her; she looked at me as if someone close to her had just been destroyed, I didn’t understand at first but I think she showed to me that removing Starscream from her life would devastate her. When they fought against each other, when they argued, when they stole Energon from one another...they forgave everything quickly, pretending the fight never happened. I also know about their...intimate relationship...how they fight even when expressing their ‘love’ for one another, treating the procedure to create life as if it was just a game or act of fun for them. It is the only part of my Mother I wish she’d eradicate from herself, it makes the other Decepticons in our base twitchy and frustrated, and Soundwave seems to be more focused on looking after us than fighting Starscream anymore.” Gama explained.  
Megatron narrowed his eyes and stared down at his son, knowing the real reason why Solarflare had given him the look; he wasn’t thinking about losing Starscream, he was thinking that he was losing Gama to the Megatron within him. The tyrant decided to keep that information to himself.   
“You’re young Gama, but you don’t seem afraid or sickened by learning of these...feelings and relationships...it intrigues me.” He announced, glancing to the doors to the room in thought “I inherited my desire to learn from my Mother, or at least that’s what Soundwave told me.” Gama answered, looking to see what his father was staring at until noticing said tyrant had returned to staring at him “And he is right; you have learnt a great deal about the way your family works at such a young age. You are truly destined to rule. On the subject of my...ex-Communications Expert...did he treat you with malice like Starscream?”  
  
Gama paused and began fidgeting once more before making his answer “No, he treat me like my brothers; fatherly but very cautious, as if he knew something would happen to him if I got hurt, but he would tell me stories alone...about you.” Megatron raised his gaze, as if looking down on his son to intimidate him “And?” he questioned to the boy, who in turn chuckled “Let me put it bluntly; he didn’t make you sound like the good guy.” Gama answered as his father began laughing, which made the youth feel a little nervous.  
 “All underlings secretly hate their master, but you get those who stay in line until pushed to extremes like Soundwave and those who run away and attempt to plant a knife into your back like Starscream.” Megatron laughed, lowering his tone as Gama began speaking once again “Soundwave didn’t bring harm onto me, my brothers or the other Decepticons. But I take it you’ll want to destroy him anyway.” The youth once again was talking; it seemed he liked to talk a great deal too, which wasn’t all bad as when he became Leader he’d be expected to motivate his troops. But talking too much bores or seriously annoys others, and annoyed troops don’t do anything you tell them to just as the bored troops will likely cause chaos from their boredom.   
“Perhaps not, Gama, if what you tell me is true. If Soundwave no longer desires your Mother and is more focused on raising his offspring, then Starscream and his unborn young are the only obstacles I have left. All that needs to be done is fooling that incompetent jet into a trap, a false sense of security...” Megatron replied.   
“Make him feel in control, fearless...then strike him before he can react.” Gama added, punching a clenched hand into his other hand. Megatron smirked as Gama’s expression became more devious, and he thought for a moment where said expression came from. He knew for certain that Solarflare flashed similar looks to entice Starscream into running off with him, but was Gama using the expression in anticipation for Starscreams destruction, or did he have something else on his mind?   
  
“Hahaha! You do possess my cunning intellect! So Gama...will you assist me in bringing down the traitor?” Megatron laughed, breaking the silence. Gama chuckled as Megatron patted his head again “Why waste time asking me when I could be coming up with a scheme now?”  
“That’s my boy.”


	15. Time-Shift

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had left this fanfiction on hold for more than 3 years at this point, with only dialogue and some hastily scribbled notes written up, and due to the fact I will soon be rewriting the entire thing (same plot, just a cleaner structure with less plot-holes) I never saw fit to finish the three chapters before the fanfiction's end.
> 
> So here, on this page, are those notes and pieces of dialogue with a little written in-between to make it more tidy, with the last chapter being finished in full.

A series of events quickly followed.  
Events that traversed so quickly, so brutally, that many records of their happenings were laid to waste or forgotten.

  
Megatron’s plan to use Solarflare’s protective instincts as a mother had failed horribly; he came to the aid of his young, yes, but what Megatron did not anticipate was the mass treason that rose from the confrontation.  
  
Starscream and Soundwave had massed a plot with the Autobots, along with their inside-allies within the Decepticons themselves. While Solarflare kept Megatron busy, the Autobots took the chance to sack the Decepticon base; forcing many of the members within to flee wherever they could hide.  
Those who remained were with Megatron on the Sky Platform or hiding deep within the Decepticon base, and unknown to him, they were all supporting members of Solarflare and Starscream’s underground rebels group; waiting patiently for the real action to start, keeping their cool and acting as if they were still on Megatron’s side.  
  
The call was made to Megatron that Starscream and Soundwave were on their way to confront him, and bang on cue, Skywarp was sent to ‘terminate’ them…little did Megatron know that Skywarp was actually waiting for Soundwaves signal to alert the other rebels that the time to attack had finally come.  
  
When the rebels rose up and stormed the Decepticon base, leaving Megatron to deal with Starscream and Soundwave on his own, the ‘purification’ began; any Decepticon who refused to join the rebels were terminated, those who were too afraid to do anything were taken prisoner, and up-top on the Sky Platform Starscream did what he’d always wanted to do…  
  
 _He defeated Megatron_. 

-

Starscream and Solarflare had taken full control of the remaining Decepticons, and began rebuilding the faction from scratch.  
Gama had turned spiteful of everyone, and in a rage he destroyed all but three of Starscreams offspring.  
Many Rebels began feeling uneasy and questioning whether helping Starscream take the leadership was a good idea or not.

(Starscream) “You’re questioning me? ME!?”  
(Skywarp) “Sir I only meant…”  
(Starscream)“Who was it that brought in that Energon that’s keeping you functional, you microchip moron?!”  
(Skywarp)“But I was just saying…”  
(Thundercracker) “Starscream, you know Skywarp…he’s just a fool.”  
(Skywarp) “Stay out of this, Thundercracker.”  
(Solarflare) “W-wait…Screamer…do you hear that?”  
(Starscream) “Hear what, Flare?”  
(Solarflare) “Just listen…”

There is the sound of things being ripped apart. Everyone grows nervous, thinking Alpha and Beta were up to no good again, or that Gama had gotten to the last three eggs.

(Starscream) “Is someone ripping apart fleshlings again?”  
(Solarflare) “M-my babies!!”

Everyone rushes to the egg-chamber to find the eggs hatching. Solarflare rushes to the eggs and helps the babies out one at a time.

(Solarflare) “Screamer, you’re now officially a father.”  
(Starscream) “I-I know that already! J-just tell me if it’s a boy or a girl!”  
(Solarflare) “She’s a beautiful girl.”  
(Starscream) “Ugh…”  
(Thundercracker) “You still have two more chances at getting a boy, so sit tight and keep your circuits crossed.”  
(Solarflare) “As we agreed, sweetie; you get to name your daughter and the other Hatchling since I named Flarestar.”

The Sparklings suddenly starts screaming. Everyone tries to sooth the pain caused by covering their ears, with the exception of Solarflare as he is still holding her.

(Starscream) “I-is she supposed to be making that noise?!”  
(Solarflare) “She’s probably hungry!”  
Solarflare attempts feeding the Sparkling but she just cries louder.

(Skywarp) “T-that did nothing!”  
(Solarflare) “I don’t understand; she’s fully energised and in perfect condition!”  
(Skywarp) “Can someone stop her from shrieking like that?!”  
(Starscream) “Give her to me, I’ll stop her!”  
(Solarflare) “S-screamer wait!”

Starscream takes the Sparkling from Solarflare, and it instantly stops crying.

(Thundercracker) “…she stopped.”  
(Solarflare) “Let me take her back then.”

Solarflare takes the Sparkling back but it cries again.

(Starscream) “AGAIN?! Someone else stop her, please!”

Skywarp takes the Sparkling but it keeps crying, and starts hitting him.

(Thundercracker) “It’s no good, she doesn’t seem to like Skywarp.”  
(Starscream) “I can’t blame her; give her back to me.”

The Sparklings stops screaming once Starscream takes her.

(Skywarp) “She’s stopped again.”  
(Solarflare) “Seems she just wanted to be close to her daddy.”  
(Starscream) “There was no need for her to shriek like that! What a brat!”  
(Solarflare) “…Screamer…you thinking what I’m thinking?”  
(Starscream) “I’m not calling her Brat.”  
(Solarflare) “NO. Call her what she does best!”  
(Starscream) “Shrieking?”  
(Everyone Else) “Yes!”  
(Starscream) “…Shrieker…it kind of has a ring to it…”  
Moments later, the large egg (already named Flarestar) hatches. Many more Decepticons have gathered to meet them.

(Solarflare) “Flarestar is…uhh…”  
(Starscream) “What? What is it? Boy or a girl?”  
(Solarflare) “B-both…Hermaphrodite…”  
(Starscream) “Y-you gotta be kidding me.”  
(Astrotrain) “Wow, he’s a big one!”  
(Thundercracker) “I think the correct term is ‘shi’.”  
(Skywarp) “Don’t tell me our next leader is gonna be a dude and a chick…that’d be very awkward.”  
(Blitzwing) “Well unless the last one is male, then Flarestar is being given the Leadership whether he…er…shi…likes it or not.”

Flarestar starts whimpering, making Starscream very angry.

(Skywarp) “I still think having a multi-gendered Leader would be a bad idea.”  
(Starscream) “ALL OF YOU; SHUT UP. You’re making Flarestar cry!”

More Decepticons gather around as the final egg hatches.

(Starscream) “Please tell me this one is a boy.”  
(Solarflare) “You’re in luck Screamer, he’s a handsome little boy.”  
(Starscream) “Let me see him.”

Starscream takes the Sparklings in his hand, as it is far smaller than the other two.

(Starscream) “…he’s so tiny…”  
(Thundercracker) “He’s only a Sparkling, he’ll get bigger.”  
(Starscream) “Look closely at him, then to Shrieker…he’s…smaller.”  
(Skywarp) “Short kids are cute, Starscream!”  
(Starscream) “Cute Cybertronians do NOT rule Cybertron or fight Autobots; they’re kept in secure facilities to SPAWN.”

Soundwave approaches to look at the boy, but Starscream hisses and moves him away.

(Soundwave) “Flare, might I suggest you examine the boy again?”  
(Solarflare) “Huh? Why, Wave?”  
(Soundwave) “There may be a reason for his height difference, along with this odd ‘cuteness’ the others are talking about.”  
(Solarflare) “Oh, I know why he’s that way; he’s a Super Breeder.”  
(Starscream) “WHAT?!”  
(Solarflare) “Your son is a Breeding Unit, Screamer.”  
(Starscream) “…but…Breeders can’t rule…it’s the law…of not just our culture, but also nature.”  
(Skywarp) “Does this mean our future leader will be female?”  
(Astrotrain) “Cybertron’s first Queen or Empress…that doesn’t sound too bad.”  
(Soundwave) “Unless Flarestar adopts the male side to hir nature, this boy will be the one to take the throne…but because of his breed type, he may have severe difficulties doing it; in this case, we would not be able to allow him to become the heir to the throne.”

Everyone begins muttering in hushes whispers, making Starscream glare down at the boy in his hands distastefully.

(Solarflare) “You still need to name him, Screamer.”  
(Starscream) “Uhhh…let’s see…Starscream Jr.”  
(Solarflare) “Oh please, be more creative.”  
(Starscream) “Slag Smelter.”  
(Solarflare) “OH PRIMUS! STARSCREAM!!!”  
(Starscream) “Hunk of Scrap.”  
(Skywarp) “…you’re cruel, Starscream.”

The boy starts trying to walk in Starscreams hand, and gets dangerously close to the edge of it.

(Blitzwing) “Whoa look out! He’s gonna fall!”  
(Starscream) “It’s alright…I got him…”

Starscream catches the boy in his other hand and tries to make sure he can’t climb out, but the problem seemed to be his walking pattern; he stutters and can’t seem to balance, as he falls over a lot and bumps into Starscreams chest.  
Starscream puts the boy onto the floor and the problem persists.

(Starscream) “He can’t walk?”  
(Solarflare) “More like his motors are malfunctioning, sweetie; he can walk, but he just falls over a lot. It might just be a minor glitch.”

The boy moves faster to try and stay upright, and doesn’t notice he is running towards a wall.

(Skywarp) “H-hey kid! S-stop! Don’t keep running or you’ll hit the wall!”

The boy trips over nothing and begins crying, having hurt himself.

(Starscream) “He tripped…”  
(Solarflare) “…accidents happen. He’s fine.”

Solarflare helps the boy back up and comforts his crying, before he begins running around off-balance again.  
Thundercracker pursues the youngster, preventing him from bumping into anything else.

(Thundercracker) “Look out for that crate!”  
(Skywarp) “This kid is seriously accident prone. I suggest you call him Humpty Dumpty.”  
(Starscream) “Fuck you, Skywarp!”  
(Solarflare) “S-someone hold onto him please…don’t let him crash into something again…”  
(Starscream) “…Crasher.”  
(Solarflare) “Screamer?”  
(Starscream) “We’ll call him Crasher for now, just until his glitch goes away; that way I have plenty of time to think of a new name.”  
(Solarflare) “Um…alright.”  
(Skywarp) “Accident prone, male Breeding Unit…loud and annoying female…I can only see Flarestar taking the Leadership.”  
(Astrotrain) “I know, Skywarp! He’s our future Leader; I know it!”  
(Soundwave) “Nonsense! Crasher is still legitimate heir to the throne as he is male!”  
(Starscream) “SILENCE; I have the say here! I am the current leader!! And I say none of them will get the title until I’ve spent enough time with them to learn their personalities!”

Gama enters the room causing everyone to fall silent once they’d taken notice of him.

(Gama) “Can any of them fly? No? Then they’re all useless, and I should be the Leader.”

Starscream approaches Gama, attempting to intimidate him.

(Starscream) “All you’re good for is---”  
(Solarflare) “Starscream.”  
(Starscream) “…never mind.”

Gama glares at Starscream, before remembering he’d formed a plan for revenge with a mystery accomplice, and had come to find a way of getting Starscream where he’d wanted him.

(Gama) “As a suggestion; train them to fly early. I know of a good location to train them in, if you’d like to go ahead with it?”  
(Skywarp) “They’ve just been hatched, they need a few days…”  
(Gama) “Then they’re weak! Did I stumble about crying aimlessly after I was born?!”  
(Solarflare) “No, but…”  
(Gama) “Mother, the sooner they learn, the better.”

Starscream and Solarflare look to one another and whisper.

(Solarflare) “Give them a few days, maybe a week. Then we’ll all go out to train them.”

Gama mutters to himself.

(Starscream) “Something on your mind?”  
(Gama) “No.”  
(Starscream) “Then shut up.”


	16. Beginning of the End

It had been one long week of waiting patiently for Gama; awaiting the moment when his mother, Solarflare, approached him for details on this location the Seekerlings could be trained in peace. Gama’s only condition to giving the information, however, was that he had to come with them.  
Flarestar however would not be joining them; Starscream and Solarflare made sure to send him to an undisclosed planetary location for training, as planned, before approaching Gama.  
  
Gama was _very_ specific in the location; he’d picked an open desert with canyons, ridges and small mesa’s as the location, only giving his parent and step-parent the excuse of “it has no trace of Autobots in the area” as reassurance that it was safe.  
  
Flight training was started very quickly, and whilst Shrieker took to the lessons with enthusiasm and full commitment, Crasher rebelled and refused to do as he was told.  
He was a boisterous youth, if not totally uncontrollable by his parents, for when they tried to encourage him to do something he would just refuse or do the opposite of the request. The only thing he listened to were his father’s ‘war-stories’. The boy’s temper and patience was thin too, for Shrieker had taken a small stumble and was now crying out for both parents full attention, leaving Gama and Crasher totally ignored.  
Crasher had stormed off whilst his parents were busy dealing with the noisy Shrieker, with Gama taken sharp notice.  
  
Smirking, Gama pursued his younger half-brother; sure he could easily kill him when they had gotten far enough away from his parents, but young Crasher was not Gama’s current target “Say Crasher, you’re mad at Shrieker for stealing your parents…aren’t you?” Gama asked, brushing alongside his sibling, who stopped walking to look up at him.  
Crasher, flashing a pout, growled deeply before smacking at his chest in a childish fury “Ugh…you bet! I’m mad!! GRRR!” the Seeker tried to flare his wings out, to display his rage, but because of their small size the desired effect just wasn’t getting through “And you’re mad at her for being next in line for leadership, aren’t you?” Gama asked slyly, bearing a small smirk upon seeing Crasher try to display his rage even further with shouting “NO FAIR! I WANNA BE LEADER! I’M A BOY! SHRIEKER IS A GIRL!”  
Gama twitches from the level of noise such a small Sparkling could make, when he remembered the sounds were necessary for his survival at his current age along with Gama’s plan to get Starscream where he wants him “…it’s ‘not fair’…incompetent fool.” He flat-browed, his smirk fading away for a brief moment as Crasher continued to stomp the ground beneath him alongside his never-ending shouting “I’m so angry right now!! GRRR! I want to hurt things BIG TIME!”  
  
The spawn of Megatron once again smirked; circling the small Seeker slowly as he speaks “Then…might I, a fellow angry sibling, make a suggestion?” he asked with a sly tone; a trait he likely picked up from his father Megatron “What are you mad about, Gama? You had nothing stolen from you!” Crasher whined, slapping out one of his arms to stop Gama from circling him any more “…that’s where you’re wrong…so very, very wrong…something valuable was stolen from me.” Gama replied, flashing a look of false pity to Crasher who seemed to take it very seriously “Really?! What was it? Who took it?! I’ll get it back for you!”  
Gama narrows his eyes and glares coldly at Crasher for a moment in silence, as if trying to assess his weak points; the silent stares started to make Crasher feel somewhat nervous, and he slowly backed away from his older sibling until he finally decided to speak “It does not matter, at least…not right now…anyway, I suggest you run away; make your parents scared, worry about you, then reappear and BAM! Instant attention! Instant respect! Instant Leadership!” Gama suggested, approaching his brother again; Crasher remained perfectly still, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car, until Gama had finally returned to arms reach of him “So what are you waiting for? Run. I’ll run too, but in another direction. We’ll both get respect if we do it like that.”  
  
Crasher remains motionless still, as if suspecting something, until finally deciding to run as his brother suggested only to immediately trip and fall flat on his face “I-I meant to do that!” Crasher whined as he got to his feet, before rushing into the distance and out of Gama’s sight.   
Gama chuckles as he watches his half-brother leave “…I’ll get back the Leadership you stole from me, you brat.” Before turning around and running in the opposite direction.  
Crasher took his older siblings word and ran as far away as he could from where his mother and father were last; he was but a child, gullible and naïve, seeking more attention and more respect from not just his parents, but also the other Decepticons “Ma and Pa…always playing with Shrieker…always ignoring me…I’ll show them!” Crasher mutters, wandering through the vast emptiness of the desert; pausing for but a moment to glance at how far he had gone on his trek “I’ll run away! Then they’ll miss me…I’ll be found by them and never ignored again! And Pa will finally teach me how to get big and strong like him!”  
Fuelled with annoyance and irritation, he carried on forwards; remembering how it was Shrieker who always got the love and affection he so rightfully deserved, and that whenever he’d get his parents attention for a brief moment, Shrieker would start screaming as loud as her vocal processors could withstand until both of her parents dragged themselves away from Crasher and her other siblings.  
Crasher was so entranced in his childish jealousy that he didn’t notice he was wandering that bit too close to a ridge, and doing what he does best, he trips over the flat desert terrain and stumbles into it face-first “Ow! That dumb floor moved! When I get bigger I’m gonna put that floor in jail!” he whined, getting to his feet and attempting to climb the ridge, only to struggle with his tiny size and stumble back down into it. He wasn’t one to try a second time, and instead decided to find a new way out of the hole he’d gotten himself stuck in.  
  
A short trek through the ridge and Crasher still hadn’t noticed it; he was being watched. It was only until he’d decided to look around himself that he finally began to feel uneasy, and slowly he began to lower his head and rub his arms to comfort himself from the fear of loneliness; he was but a Sparkling after all, attempting to play ‘big kid’ to impress his parents, and had every right to be afraid. He was just under a year old and still had to rely on being fed Energon directly from his mother, could hardly keep himself sheltered without his father’s protective frame shielding him from the elements; a second trip over the perfectly flat floor set him into a panic, as he scoped his eyes around his surroundings immediately after recovering from the trip.  
The sky above him was quickly changing from the Autobot blue into a deep Decepticon purple, indicating to him that it was soon to be night; a time of great danger to any Sparkling. He had no Energon to drink, he had no shelter to sleep under, he had no Decepticon relations around to protect him either from Autobot abduction or rival Decepticon attacks; he was totally helpless.  
Crasher meekly huddles against a boulder, rubbing his arms still and looking up at the sky as it grew darker and darker, until pouting as a tall dark figure towered before him.  
“Hey! What’s the big idea mister!?” Crasher whined, getting up from his seated position to try and lower his intimidation against the larger figure. The giant chuckled at first, before coldly uttering “That is rude of you. You should speak with respect, boy” to the sparkling.  
Crasher growls at the Cybertronian and wanders to a different spot to see him better; he was a tall, purple male with red eyes and sections of white and black. Crasher narrows his stare as he focuses more on the Cybertronians face “…who are you…” Crasher asks cautiously.  
He gets no reply from the adult, deciding that he was not interested in talking to him, before trying to walk by the Cybertronian only to be blocked by him moving one of his feet into his path “Move out of the way mister!” Crasher pouts, growling as the adult continued to prevent him from walking any further, chuckling at the Sparklings growing frustration “I’m running away from my Ma and Pa! I have to keep moving! MOVE!” Crasher hisses, before finally rushing between the adult’s legs and continuing his walk, but the adult follows “Oh? And why are you doing that?”  
Crasher growls deeply and stops his walking before turning to glare at the adult, who seems to return the glare “Because Ma and pa ignored me! I’ll show them how important I am by running away! They’ll miss me and then they’ll try to find me!” Crasher answered, before continuing down the path, but once again the adult follows “Might I ask…who you are?” he asks, keeping a fixed watch on the Sparkling. Crasher does not reply, which seems to irritate the adult who rushes forwards and blocks Crashers path again “Name, boy” the adult demands coldly.  
 “I’m Crasher! Now who are you mister?” Crasher snaps, until cowering slightly under the forever daunting stare of the adult male before him “Galvatron.” The adult replies, equally as cold as before “Well Galvatron! I want to keep moving so move please!” Crasher pouts before attempting to move forwards again, only for Galvatron to stomp his foot down that bit too close to him for comfort “I can’t let you do that, Starscream Spawn.”  
Crasher panics as Galvatron tries to grasp onto him, but he quickly rushes out of the oncoming grasp “Slippery, aren’t you?” Galvatron chuckles, staring down at the very alert Sparkling, who trembles in fear as the larger Cybertronian continued to attempt stepping on him or at least try to get hold of him. Instinctively Crasher wanted to cry for one of his parents or surrogate parents to come and defend him from the frightening Decepticon male, but he was stubborn and didn’t want to look weak to his parents.  
Galvatron seemed to realise this, as he had stopped the pitiful and somewhat futile attempts to capture Crasher and had now decided to stop, causing Crashers eyes to widen in further panic in fear of what he would do next “Run little Seeker…run and call for help.” Galvatron chuckled, revealing his Fusion Cannon and taking aim directly at him with it. In sheer panic; Crasher turns and runs down the ridge, incapable of climbing his way out of it “Mamma! Pappa!! HELP!” Crasher dodges a blast from Galvatrons gun, and trips, granting Galvatron easy aiming to attempt shooting at him again, but misses, causing the Sparkling to get up and run faster. Crasher reaches a ravine and stops, before turning to see Galvatron rushing towards him; he slips as he turns around again and falls into the ravine, before running in a panic as Galvatron leaped down after him “HELP! MA! PA!!”  
Crasher runs through the ravine until reaching an opening into a larger canyon, catching sight of a small opening big enough for him to fit into. He rushes inside of it and pushes himself at the very back of the wall, panting as Galvatron began bashing at the opening to try and make the gap bigger “SOMEONE! HELP!” Crasher cries out, with Galvatrons maniacal laughter quickly following suit of the cries “That’s it little one…cry for him to come…bring him to me.” Galvatron whispers, before returning to his insane fits of laughter.  
  
Crasher cowers as Galvatron blasts the wall, causing the hole to get larger, before smashing it with his arms again “PA!! HELP ME! PLEASE!!” Crasher cries out, clawing the wall behind him as if trying to find a way to get deeper into the hole. He turns for a moment to see what was happening behind him, before looking up in horror as Galvatron finally made the opening large enough to grasp onto him, and begins trying to pull him out “Now I’ve got you; nowhere to run or hide from me now boy!” Galvatron hisses, ignoring Crashers biting and flailing in his grasp as if he was listening to something else that Crasher was not yet aware of.  
Suddenly someone drops from the top of the canyon onto Galvatrons body and pushes him from the hole, releasing Crasher from his tyrannous grasp “Crasher; stay in the hole! Don’t leave it until the danger is gone!” Crasher recognised the voice to be that of his father, Starscream, and heeds his words and pulls himself back into the hole to hide. Starscream rushes Galvatron in a tackle and pushes his gun away from him, causing him to fire into the sky. The Sparkling, trembling in fear, looks out of the hole to watch the fight, and catches a glimpse of Gama wandering across one of the canyon walls “…Gama? What are you…” suddenly Gama began taking aim with his own gun, with his targeting light aimed directly onto Starscreams unprotected back “PA! LOOK OUT!” Crasher cries out, causing Starscream to look up and avoid Gama’s shot, only to get a clear punch across the face by Galvatron. Gama’s shot caused masses of dust to fly into the air, which blocks Crasher’s vision, leaving him to rely on just sounds and smells.  
“Crasher! Sweetheart?! Where are you?!” he heard yet another familiar voice call to him, this time from his mother Solarflare; Crasher cowers slightly as he hears gunshots, before finally shouting out a reply to his mother “Ma! I’m…I’m in a hole!” he cries out, tightly shutting his eyes as he sees a bright flash burst out of the dust cloud “Stay there! I’m coming to get you!” Solarflares voice replies, only to receive a loud call from Starscream who was still submerged in the dust “No Flare; get yourself and Shrieker out of here!! I’ll recover Crasher!” midway through Starscreams orders, the sound of rapid gunfire and sounds of Starscream being bashed around are heard, quickly followed by agonising screams from the Seeker.  
Starscream emerges from the dust and rushes to Crashers hiding spot, before attempting to recover him from it, only to writhe in pain as Galvatron grasped him tightly on the back and yanked him away, with an ear-piercing cracking sound being heard moments after Galvatron got hold of his back. Starscream attempts to hold back his screams of agony, but resistance was futile; as he felt Energon bleed from his back, and Galvatrons hand continuing to work its way through his body, Starscream roared an immeasurable scream of pain as Galvatrons hand finally re-emerged; bursting through his chest, shattering the windows of his jet’s nosecone and splattering Energon across the walls surface. Crasher flinches as droplets of the Energon hit his face, and stumbles backwards as his fathers chassis hits the hole once Galvatron had decided to toss Starscream free. Weakly, Starscream raises his head to look at his son in the hole, and faintly utters the words “…run…and…resist…”  
Crasher froze as Galvatron approached and grasped Starscreams battered and bruised chassis, before dragging him away from the hole and into the dust once more. Crasher hears screams and gunfire, and sees more dust being thrown into the air along with blood/Energon.  
A minute later everything is silent; all Crasher could hear was the wind blowing, the dust landing, but he could smell the scent of death. He slowly removes himself from the hole into the cloud of dust to see what happened, with the smell growing stronger the deeper into the cloud he went “…Pa?” Crasher stops walking as he hears something move, deathly afraid of whatever else could be lurking in the dust cloud with him “Pa is that you?” As the dust starts to settle, Crasher sees a silhouette of Starscream sat against the canyon wall and stares vacantly at it for a moment, blinking in disbelief, before he rushes to it crying “Pa!” but Starscreams eyes were closed, and he was not moving. The young Sparkling shuffles beside his unmoving father and touches his arm gently, feeling his father’s Spark slowly begin to fade away, until he could no longer feel it anymore.  
Crasher nudges Starscreams forearm repeatedly, as he was certain that he had moved just a moment ago to create the ‘thud’ he heard “Pa…wake up…we have to go.” He whimpered, shuffling from his father’s arm to his side, before pushing at him as hard as he could to get some form of movement from him; but nothing, not even a twitch or blink. Crasher moves back to his father’s arm and uses all his strength to lift it, before tugging at it “Pa…don’t sleep now…please…” he whimpered, releasing his father’s arm only to see it crash onto the floor with the same heavy thud he heard moments ago. The realisation then sunk in; his father wasn’t going to wake up, he was totally alone now and unprotected from bigger, stronger males that his mother could not hold off by herself.  
  
Crasher bolts his attention to behind him as he hears someone approach, and finds his mother and sister; Solarflares eyes widen in shock and he immediately covers Shriekers eyes, before turning away himself to fight the urge to cry at what he had just seen “Ma…I…I didn’t…I didn’t mean for it to happen…” Crasher whimpers pathetically, as Galvatron emerged from the dust, looking down at the Sparkling “Oh, of course you didn’t…but if it weren’t for you, he’d still be alive.” Galvatron chuckled, smirking at the sight before him.  
Crasher turns to look at Galvatron in surprise as Gama slides down the wall and stands beside his father, before approaching the deceased Starscream and nudging him with his foot; turning to nod at Galvatron to confirm that he was indeed long dead. Crashers eyes begin to emit tears and he clings to Starscreams arm, looking up at his father’s face “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You do as I say and you will live. Defy me and you will join him in death. Understand?” Galvatron chuckles further, looking closely at how Crasher was reacting.  
Solarflare backs away and gestures Crasher to come to him, cautiously watching Galvatron for any signs of movement “C-Crasher…come over here now…” he says softly, with a hint of fear in his voice. Crasher steps towards his mother, when Gama rushes between them both and stops him getting any closer “In such a hurry to leave now, Solis? I thought you’d want to introduce me to your bumbling baby brats?” Galvatron snarled as Solarflare clung to Shrieker, slowly backing away from the tyrant. Galvatron quickly rushes Solarflare, with Gama stopping Crasher getting any closer to him, as the tyrant forcefully grasped one of Solarflares arms and pressured him into releasing Shrieker, with her falling into Galvatrons waiting second arm “A female…this is a wonderful day indeed.” He chuckled, shifting his gaze from the Sparkling who was strangely quiet to her very angry mother “Get your filthy hands off her!” Solarflare hissed, attempting to reclaim his daughter only for Galvatron to bear his fangs at him “Hold your tongue or I’ll have Gama gut your son!!”  
Solarflare reluctantly stands back, allowing Galvatron to examine Shrieker and hold onto her as if she was his own daughter. Galvatron turns to face Crasher, who looks up at him in tears “You did this…you brought your father exactly where I wanted him, distracted him in combat…weakened him…” Crasher lowers his head, crying, realising that his desire for attention and respect had ultimately robbed him of it; along with the loving and tender care of a father.  
  
 _“It’s your fault your father is dead.”_


End file.
